Vice Chairman of the National Assembly’s Economic Committee Mai Xuan Hung talks to Dai Doan Ket (Great National Unity) newspaper about economic struggles and illegal imports.
What are the conclusions drawn by your committee following recent inspections at border provinces?
Cross border smuggling is taking place throughout the year in our country. Yet the busiest time is before the Lunar New Year Festival.
Our committee decided to send inspection teams to inquire into the real situation at border areas at this time of the year, following many reports that the economic downturn has forced increasing numbers of people to become smugglers, particularly poor people and those who live along the border.
During the inspections we visited four international border gates – Mong Cai in the northern province of Quang Ninh, Tinh Bien in the southern province of Chau Doc, Moc Bai in the southwestern province of Tay Ninh and Tan Thanh in the northern province of Lang Son.
Through the visits we found that smugglers came from all walks of life, including individuals, businesspeople, joint stock companies and Vietnamese-foreign joint stock companies.
The goods that were smuggled ranged from fabrics, clothes, fruit and electronics to foreign currencies, ingots, children’s toys and other items.
One of the conclusions made by the inspectors was that the economic downturn is the key factor leading to the increase in cross border smuggling, is that right?
I think there are various reasons forcing certain groups of people to become smugglers or hired transporters. One of them is the difficult economic situation.
Smugglers arrested by our anti-smuggling forces in the border areas were mostly local people. This indicates those people were the transporters, not the traders. I have to concede that many “ring leaders” are still at large.
We should ask ourselves why do people living along the border areas take part in smuggling activities? Of course, an answer can be their poor knowledge about our policies and laws. They don’t even know what will happen to them if they are caught by law enforcement officers. Also, as they are poor, they need money to survive. They just need jobs so they can earn a living.
When they are caught, they simply cry and ask law enforcement officers to let them go. In such a situation, officers can do little but set them free. Fine them? They don’t have the money. Reprimand them? They simple say thank you and promise not to do it again.
But, on the next day, they are again working as hired transporters! This is something extremely difficult for law enforcement officers in the fight against cross border smuggling.
So what should we do to make the fight a success?
The problem is how to detect and arrest the ring leaders. We know the battle is not easy at all, but we are resolved to tackle it by getting to the root of the problem.
Following these inspections, we will develop proposals to make the fight against cross border smuggling more effective. Among the measures we will introduce are consolidating the leadership role and co-ordination between central and local agencies, particularly with border district and commune authorities.
Other measures we want to introduce aim to ensure the top local government officials in areas where smuggling activities are rampant take more responsibility in this endeavour.
In addition, we also ask responsible agencies to review and revise existing legal documents and if it is necessary, to issue new policies or mechanisms to promote domestic production and improve the comparative advantages of Vietnamese products through high quality and affordable prices for consumers.
For border provinces, we have asked local authorities to launch campaigns to encourage local people to use Vietnamese goods.
Regarding production policies, we have advised them to take measures to encourage enterprises to create more jobs for people living in border areas so that they won’t become hired transporters for smuggling rings. — VNS
Đăng ký: VietNam News
