The meeting hosted by the General Department of Vietnam Customs drew 53 delegations of ASEM member countries and international organizations. It focuses on customs cooperation with priority given to strengthening the multilateral trade system of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

In his opening remarks, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Finance Do Hoang Anh Tuan said the meeting offers an opportunity for the delegates to seek ways to revamp customs management, meeting requirements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. “We applaud the project relating to improving capacity in the fight against trade fraud and customs management. We hope that the world customs will continue to increase technical support and capacity building for the Vietnamese Customs in line with the world customs’ strategy for global partnership and global economic exchanges,” Mr. Tuan said.

As host of the meeting, Vietnam has proposed orientations for ASEM customs cooperation to create regional connectivity and customs cooperation in the context of Industrial Revolution 4.0 and the fight against trade fraud, terrorism, and the illegal trading of goods which harm the environment.