More FDI enterprises get customs incentives Though Samsung Electro-Mechanics Vietnam and Hansol Electronics Vietnam have been recognized as priority enterprises to benefit from special customs incentives though they have not put into operation any project in this country. To meet the requirements of customs incentives, enterprises have to be operational at least two years, or obtain a minimum annual export turnover of US$50 million (applied to farm produce, seafood, textile, garment and footwear) and US$200 million (applied to other products). The plant to produce and assemble components for telecom and mobile devices of Samsung Electro-Mechanics Vietnam is under construction and will come online late this year or early next year. The electronic device project of Hansol Electronics Vietnam got off the ground late last year. The Ministry of Finance has got approval from the Prime Minister to grant customs incentives to these enterprises given their commitments and their reputations and as an effort to reduce procedures and offer incentives for large-scale projects with huge investments and using a large number of laborers. The project of Samsung Electro-Mechanics Vietnam worth US$1.2 billion is being developed at Yen Binh I Industrial Park to provide products for the hi-tech complex of Samsung Electronics Vietnam Thai Nguyen (SEVT) specializing in cell phones, smart phones and tablets. Seung Mo Ryu, general director of Samsung Electro-Mechanics Vietnam, once said that the project was the company’s biggest project outside South Korea. Enjoying customs incentives, enterprises can conduct fewer procedures, get tax refunds first and checking later, have goods cleared quickly and make a single goods declaration system for multiple exports and imports. In addition, once Vietnam joins the mutual recognition of authorized economic operator (AEO) with foreign countries, priority enterprises can enjoy incentives in those countries. The application of the priority enterprise status demonstrates a drastic change to the management method of the General Department of Customs from regarding enterprises as subjects of management to partners. According to the post-clearance audit unit under the department, there have been over 50 countries implementing the priority enterprise program. Though practices in each country are different, the common foundation is the SAFE Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade built by the World Customs Organization (WCO). Currently, the customs authorities of 27 countries have signed the mutual recognition agreements on priority enterprise. Vietnam started a pilot scheme of implementing the priority enterprise in 2011 and is now being officially executed in accordance with the Ministry of Finance’s Circular 86/2013/TT-BTC. The number of enterprises recognized as priority firms has reached 26 compared to over 50,000 export and import enterprises nationwide. Such enterprises are big companies and account for up to 23% of the country’s total exports and imports.     SGT