Administrative reform for maritime sector comes to reality

Director of the Vietnam Maritime Administration Nguyen Xuan Sang said it is a noticeable step, promising to create a turning point in the maritime sector’s administrative procedure reforms.

He cited that the maritime sector is one of the first sectors to connect to the National E-information Portal.

According to the director, the Vietnam Maritime Administration proposed cutting time for administrative procedures. It mapped out and submitted to the Ministry of Transport a plan on the perfection of nearly 130 administrative procedures in the maritime sector. It also made public its administrative procedures in order to create favourable conditions for organisations, individuals and businesses.

According to the Deputy Director of the Maritime Administration of the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh, Vu Ngoc Bich, as one of the country’s biggest sea ports, Quang Ninh port was selected to become the first to implement administrative procedure reform, including e-procedures.

The national one-stop-shop mechanism has been carried out at the port since mid-2015, and the Maritime Administration of Quang Ninh province has coordinated with relevant authorities to implement the e-procedure for all vessels, Deputy Director Vu Ngoc Bich added.

Le Xuan Tien, an official of the Bac Dang Transport Limited Company, acknowledged that thanks to administrative procedure reforms, processing time for vessels coming or leaving ports in Quang Ninh province has been reduced. Ship owners can register for e-procedures before the vessel moors or leaves port, helping businesses and traders save time and costs.

The Maritime Administration of Quang Ninh province and other port authorities nationwide have posted administrative documents at their offices. If businesses submit their documents online, processing time for the documents only takes 15 minutes or less.

Dao Trong Hung, a representative of Vietfrach, said declaring documents under the “one stop shop” model has become easier, the model now requires only 10 papers instead of 36 papers previously for vessels coming to the port and 6 papers compared to 17 papers previously when the vessel leaves port.

With significant improvements, many enterprises revealed that the mechanism has helped maritime transport firms save hundreds of millions of Vietnam dong a month.

Nguyen Hai Nam, Director of the Maritime Administration of Ho Chi Minh City, said his administration developed a website and information on the sector, port, vessels and administrative procedures that has been continuously updated.

The initiative aims to disclose information, administrative procedures, and create favourable conditions for enterprises and individuals to understand legal regulations.

Director Nguyen Hai Nam said starting from March 1 this year, the Maritime Administration of Ho Chi Minh City introduced e-procedures to Vietnam’s sea vessels operating domestic routes. Under the programme, the port’s officials can receive, approve and check documents online. Ship owners and agents do not need to submit documents at the port office in person.

However, the director admitted there are still some difficulties in implementing the programme, including payment method as fees are mainly paid in cash at port offices.

Binh, Deputy Director of the Maritime Administration of Quang Ninh, said to effectively implement the national one-stop-stop mechanism, it is necessary to perfect features and add search tools on the national e-information portal.

He proposed that the use of e-signatures should be approved and ports can issue e-leaving licenses, together with e-payment and e-invoices so ship owners and dealers do not need to come to port offices to receive and submit documents.

Source: VNA