Economic breakthrough at border gates: (Part 3) Aspiration to reach far

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- Despite the encouraging results, the path to realizing Lang Son's aspirations to reach further still faces many challenges. Recognizing the potential and outstanding strengths along with the intertwined difficulties and challenges, the Party Committee and government of Lang Son province have identified border gate economic development as one of the four key programs to create a breakthrough momentum, aiming to build the Dong Dang - Lang Son Border Gate Economic Zone (KTCK) into a modern, dynamic KTCK center, a national and international border gate service and logistics center.

Lang Son's aspiration to reach out is not only reflected in growth figures but also in its strategic vision, determination to act and impressive initial results, opening up a promising development path for the future.

Strategic vision to 2030

Lang Son’s biggest goal in the coming years is to transform the Dong Dang - Lang Son Economic Zone into a modern, dynamic economic center and one of the leading logistics centers in the country. This not only helps optimize geographical advantages but also creates a sustainable growth momentum, spreading to the entire Northern Midlands and Mountains.

Leaders of Lang Son Provincial People's Committee and Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee surveyed the project under the "smart border gate" project under construction at Huu Nghi International Border Gate (March 2025)

Comrade Doan Thanh Son, Vice Chairman of Lang Son Provincial People's Committee emphasized: By 2030, Lang Son will build Dong Dang - Lang Son Economic Zone to develop rapidly and sustainably, worthy of being one of the key economic zones of the country. To do that, all levels and sectors in the province will continue to implement solutions to build the economic zone. The focus is on strengthening planning, investing in synchronous construction of technical infrastructure in the economic zone; developing diverse types of trade, tourism, services, building mechanisms and policies to develop the economy in the economic zone; especially focusing on mobilizing resources to implement the pilot project to build "smart border gates", at the same time aiming to modernize activities in the economic zone of the province. Along with that, it is necessary to promote administrative reform, improve the investment and business environment to facilitate investment attraction in the economic zone of the province.

The province's development plan focuses on re-planning functional areas, especially freight transit areas, warehouses and duty-free zones to attract large investors with financial capacity and experience to develop key projects, creating a solid foundation for the development of the economic zone.

In the coming time, the province will also propose specific development orientations for each key border gate to ensure that it is consistent with its existing potential and advantages. Accordingly, Huu Nghi international border gate is striving to become a model smart border gate and the most advanced road border gate in ASEAN. To realize this, the province is focusing resources to build Huu Nghi into a model smart border gate. The entire customs clearance process will be digitized, from customs procedures, quarantine, to the management of means of transport and goods. Automatic identification technology (RFID), smart monitoring systems and the national single window mechanism will be thoroughly applied, helping to reduce waiting time, save costs and increase transparency.

Cargo train at Dong Dang Railway Station international border gate

For the international border gate, Dong Dang Railway Station is also striving to become a modern logistics center and the most important railway gateway connecting Vietnam with China and third countries. To do that, it will be necessary to comprehensively upgrade the railway infrastructure, renovate and expand the station, build a modern warehouse and yard system, especially cold storage to meet the needs of transporting agricultural products. The goal is to increase the capacity of transporting goods by rail many times, creating a stable, efficient and safe transport channel.

However, some logistics business representatives said: "The current railway infrastructure still has many limitations. Dong Dang Station has degraded, the storage space is small and the connection with other transport routes is not yet synchronized. Businesses want more systematic investment, with close coordination between parties to optimize the supply chain, making rail transport an attractive option.

With Chi Ma border gate, the province has oriented to strive to upgrade it to an international border gate. This is a strategic step to reduce the load on large border gates such as Huu Nghi and Tan Thanh, while opening a new connection direction, especially with provinces and cities in the Northeast region of China. This place will also become a specialized border gate for some types of goods such as agricultural products, helping to optimize the export process.

Regarding import-export turnover, in the coming time, Lang Son province is still aiming for higher targets. Most typically, by 2026, the total import-export turnover of all types of goods through Lang Son province's border gates will reach 70 billion USD or more, and in the following years, it will strive to increase by 5% or more compared to 2026...

Overcoming challenges, realizing goals

To realize the above goals, mobilizing financial resources is one of the biggest challenges. Therefore, in the context of limited budget capital, provincial levels and sectors have developed key infrastructure investment plans, especially mobilizing non-budgetary capital sources. The province is actively calling for investment in the form of public-private partnerships (PPP), creating an attractive investment environment with preferential policies on taxes, land and administrative procedures. The goal is to attract large, potential enterprises to participate in strategic infrastructure projects.

Along with capital difficulties, planning limitations are also a big challenge to realizing the goal. Head of the Management Board of Dong Dang - Lang Son Economic Zone, Nguyen Quoc Toan said: Unsynchronized planning is one of the biggest barriers. Some plans have not kept up with the development speed, leading to a lack of connection between functional areas and traffic routes. To overcome this, we are reviewing and adjusting the Master Plan for the construction of Dong Dang - Lang Son Economic Zone until 2045, ensuring synchronization, close connection between localities and in line with the development orientation of the province.

Although there have been many reforms, some procedures are still cumbersome, time-consuming and costly. The synchronous application of technology at border gates is essential, but it is necessary to ensure stability and connectivity between systems so as not to disrupt business operations. Therefore, on the business side, many units also hope that the provincial government will have more specific support policies, especially in terms of capital, production and business premises, administrative procedures, and investment environment.

Mr. Mai Duc Trung, General Director of Chi Ma HTT General Import-Export Service Joint Stock Company said: Although the infrastructure at the border gate has been upgraded, it is not yet synchronous, still affecting the transportation, loading and unloading, and storage of import and export goods. We recommend that the province soon invest in completing the border gate infrastructure, especially upgrading the road to Chi Ma border gate, so that the transportation of goods, especially those with high economic value, is convenient.

Means of transporting goods at the wharf of Chi Ma HTT General Import-Export Services Joint Stock Company

Not only focusing on infrastructure and technology, Lang Son also identifies the development of service industries associated with the stock market as one of the four main contents in the period of 2021 - 2025. Industries such as trade, tourism, logistics and accompanying services will receive strong investment, aiming to create a diverse and sustainable economic ecosystem. Strengthening links with neighboring localities at home and abroad is also an important factor to ensure harmonious development.

Mr. Nguyen Van Chien, Deputy Director of Viettel Lang Son Logistics Park, said: Viettel Lang Son Logistics Park is invested and operated with the latest technologies to ensure the most optimal cargo processing time, reduce logistics costs by 10 - 20%, creating favorable conditions for businesses. After Lang Son deploys the "smart border gate" model, Viettel Lang Son Logistics Park will become an extended logistics center of the smart border gate, helping businesses have the infrastructure to carry out customs clearance. Because currently, Viettel has built a digital platform at the park and is ready to connect API with the smart border gate system.

It is known that in the period of 2026 - 2030, on average each year the province will add from 1,000 billion VND or more from the state budget to continue investing in the construction and putting into use at least 10 key projects to serve the management activities of functional forces and improve the capacity of customs clearance of import and export goods. At the same time, create a policy mechanism to attract and mobilize from 15,000 - 20,000 billion VND of non-budgetary investment to invest in projects in the KTCK and other border gates. In particular, focus resources on investing in infrastructure projects, especially digital infrastructure to serve the operation of the "smart border gate" model at Huu Nghi International Border Gate and Tan Thanh Border Gate.

Sharing this content, Mr. Tran Huu Giang, Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology said: In order to move towards smart and automatic goods delivery activities, implementing the direction of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Science and Technology is coordinating with relevant agencies to invest in the latest technologies to synchronize information and data activities between the two sides in goods clearance activities according to the smart border gate model, thereby ensuring the most optimal goods processing time, thereby creating favorable conditions for businesses. After Lang Son deploys the "smart border gate" model, it is possible that by 2027, the customs clearance capacity at the dedicated freight transport road in the area of ​​landmarks 1119 - 1120 and the dedicated freight transport road in the area of ​​landmarks 1088/2 - 1089 will increase 2 - 3 times and by 2030 it may increase 4 - 5 times compared to the present time.

Enterprises carry out procedures at Huu Nghi International Border Gate Customs

In fact, according to the approved plan, from now until 2030, Lang Son province will focus on investing in technical infrastructure and digital infrastructure to develop Huu Nghi international border gate into a model border gate applying high technology, a smart border gate, a "typical model" for Vietnam's road transport; develop Dong Dang international railway station border gate towards providing logistics services and modern, smart support services; upgrade the Chi Ma (Vietnam) - Ai Diem (China) bilateral border gate pair into an international border gate and develop warehouses and logistics services for e-commerce; upgrade the Binh Nghi (Vietnam) - Binh Nhi Quan (China) border gate pair into a bilateral border gate; Invest in and upgrade the specialized road for transporting goods in the area of ​​landmark 1088/2-1089 (Tan Thanh) at Huu Nghi international border gate to develop it towards becoming a center for agricultural processing and consumption of agricultural products for Vietnam, ASEAN countries and China through the agricultural product trading floor.

Officers of Tan Thanh Border Guard Station control entry and exit procedures for drivers transporting export goods through the border gate.

With strategic orientations, determination of authorities at all levels and the support of the business community, Lang Son is gradually realizing its aspiration to reach out, turning Dong Dang - Lang Son Economic Zone into not only a gateway for trade but also an important growth pole, contributing to the overall development of the entire Northern Midlands and Mountains region.

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Source: https://baolangson.vn/but-pha-kinh-te-cua-khau-ky-3-khat-vong-vuon-xa-5057244.html