The WCO facilitated a workshop on Strategic Planning at the General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC) from 20-23 October, 2015. The workshop was funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) under the project "Customs Capacity Building for WCO Members 2012-2017." The NORAD project aims at delivering technical assistance to seven countries: Timor Leste, Liberia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Tanzania and Vietnam. The project provides focused support to Vietnam related to Customs Brokers, Stakeholder Engagement and Strategic Planning.

The main objective of the workshop was to review and revise the GDVC’s draft 5-Year Strategic Plan. The WCO facilitators and the GDVC participants completed a joint review of the plan and drafted the strategic goals, objectives and activities. The GDVC will complete the rest of the plan (performance indicators, timeline and responsibility) as part of the "Next Steps" under the continued support and guidance of the NORAD project and WCO Secretariat.

The WCO facilitators also worked with the Reform & Modernization Board on the development of their approach to compliance management. Vietnam Customs is looking to develop a risk-based Compliance Management Strategy to support the implementation of the new Strategic Plan. The work sessions focused on building the capacity of the policy team responsible for the development of the strategy.

For more information on the project for Customs Capacity Building for WCO Members 2012-17 please contact the Project Manager, Mr. Philip Wood Philip.Wood@wcoomd.org