ARISE Plus, funded by the European Union (EU), is determined to ensure no one gets left behind in its effort to engage and inform the private sector about the benefits of the ASEAN Customs Transit System (ACTS). Following successful events conducted for Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, the third ACTS Private Sector Partnership Building Event was held on 28 April 2022 targeting, the private sector from Viet Nam.
The ACTS event was attended by 65 private sector representatives. The event was enhanced by the presence of translators to ensure all participants were able to benefit from the presentations delivered and the Q&A session.
City Zone Express Sdn Bhd is one of the pioneer companies that have participated in the ACTS which has been operating live in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam since 2 November 2020. Its General Manager, Mr S. Pirithivaraj, presented his experiences in using the ACTS in a video presentation and shared the costs benefits gained.
The technical experts of ARISE Plus, Mr Aivaras Pigaga and Mr Skevos Miaoulis who have worked very closely with the ASEAN Secretariat ACTS Central Management Team, delivered presentations on the technical and practical aspects of ACTS such as processes at departure, border and destination, bank guarantee, registration process and challenges faced during the pandemic.
During the Q&A, there were discussions on the legal framework that ACTS was operating under, the level of engagement and endorsement ACTS has from the Vietnamese government and the transporting of goods from China. Mr Kenneth Tiong, the experienced advisor for transport, transit and customs of ARISE Plus responded to questions and explained how ACTS complements regional agreements such as ASEAN Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Goods in Transit (AFAFGIT), and elaborated on ACTS endorsement by the relevant authorities across the six participating countries.
Participants expressed need for more guidance on the guarantee and related tax computation. ARISE Plus will clarify further during follow-up workshop sessions. ARISE Plus remains committed to translating the ASEAN vision of seamless movement of goods in the region into reality.
Further information is available on:
https://ariseplus.asean.org/acts2/
