The People’s Committee of central Quang Tri province began a trial run of the “one-stop-shop” customs model at the Lao Bao-Densavan border gates between Vietnam and Laos on January 5.

Lao Bao international border gate.

The test is an important step for competent agencies of Quang Tri and its Lao neighbouring province of Savannakhet to review all procedures and human resources before the official operation of the model in early February.

So far, Quang Tri has prepared all necessary equipment and staff to ensure the smooth implementation of customs clearance formalities agreed by the two localities.

On the occasion, the Vietnam Border Guard High Command presented a set of equipment and machinery worth 2.5 billion VND to the Lao police in order to help them in deploying the model.

Vietnam and Laos inked a memorandum of understanding on the implementation of the “one-stop shop” model at the Lao Bao-Desavan border gates in 2005 in line with an agreement on facilitating people’s travel and goods transport across border signed by Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) countries.

The mechanism is expected to halve the time taken to clear customs procedures at the pair of Lao Bao-Densavan border gates.

VNA