NTM Business Surveys Giving Small and Medium-sized Enterprises a Voice
In support of Viet Nam’s efforts to improve trade competitiveness, ITC leverages its expertise in the area of non-tariff measures (NTMs) to create an evidence base needed to effectively reduce trade cost related to NTMs and to increase the transparency and understanding of NTMs and related procedures.
Overall, ITC’s program on NTMs in Viet Nam is set to:
ITC’s intervention in Viet Nam is based on the following four components:
The ITC business surveys in Viet Nam on NTMs documented the experiences of companies that are involved in international trade. The survey covered exporters of goods and selected service sectors (logistics & transport, ICT & ICT-enabled services, and travel & tourism).
The business surveys gathered evidence from the ground about unnecessary trade cost that NTMs imply. Click here to see the preliminary results of the survey in Viet Nam.
For more information on the NTM Business Surveys, click here.
Stakeholder consultations that accompany the survey process allow identifying how to reduce such trade cost without undermining legitimate objectives that trade regulations serve. The process thereby informed the design and implementation of trade strategies and will contribute to bringing tangible changes to the business environment and facilitating untapping existing trade potentials.
The following institutions are involved in the discussion: the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Transport, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Investment, the SPS office, the TBT office, the General Department of Vietnamese Customs and different business associations (pepper, rubber, fruits, tea, etc.).
ITC collaborated with government agencies, trade support institutions and academia in Viet Nam in the design and delivery of trainings to increase awareness and understanding of NTMs and their impact on businesses. ITC particularly focused on building capacity of trainers in Viet Nam that can subsequently replicate trainings in various regions of the country, leading to the creation of the ‘NTM network’ of 30 certified trainers. Click more for more information on the training of trainers.
In 2020, Vietrade with the financial support of ITC and GIZ completed a series of 12 training workshops on ‘NTMs and Market Access’ in 10 provinces of the country, delivered by members of the ‘NTM network’. More information about this training series is available here.
ITC makes use of its comprehensive databases and public data dissemination tools, including Market Access Map, procedural guides, and the alert system for WTO notifications on SPS and TBT measures (ePing - in Vietnamese), among others to, enhance transparency of information on regulations and procedures in Viet Nam.
ITC’s program on NTMs in Viet Nam is implemented in close collaboration with national partners to ensure maximum impact on the ground. Vietrade – Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency is ITC’s main coordination partner.
Please write to us at: ntm@intracen.org
A high-level event featuring Mr. Do Thang Hai, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ms. Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC) and Mr. Aik Hoe Lim, Director of the Trade and Environment Division at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to launch the Vietnamese version of ePing.
ITC's NTM project in Viet Nam was officially launched on 21 November 2018 in Hanoi. During the launch event, ITC presented the objective and the scope of the project to the national stakeholders. ITC's presentation detailing the assistance to Vietnam in the area of NTMs is available here:
As part of the ‘Capacity Building’ component of the NTM project in Viet Nam, ITC has delivered two training workshops to SMEs and members of TSIs on ‘NTMs and Market Access: key concept and information tools’ in Ha Noi on February 19 and 20, 2019 and in Ho Chi Minh City on February 21 and 22, 2019.
Following the two trainings to the private sector, the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) and ITC worked together to design a training of trainers with the aim of creating the local capacity to, subsequently, replicate the trainings by local expert or members of Vietnamese trade support institutions.
This ‘training of trainers’ consists in a 2-month process comprising e-Preparatory work, in-depth sessions on concepts, personal assignment and sessions on training delivery. ITC and Vietrade applied it in Ho Chi Minh City in 2019 and in Ha Noi in 2020, leading to the creation of the ‘NTM network’ of 30 certified trainers.
Following the Business Survey, Vietrade and ITC teamed up to organize a workshop to define actions for reducing unnecessary trade cost based on the results of the business survey on trade obstacles in Viet Nam. The event took place in Ha Noi on 19 and 20 November 2019.
Using the newly created ‘NTM network’, Vietrade has completed in 2020 a series of 12 training workshops in 10 provinces of the country, with a participation of 760 individuals from micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), governmental institutions and trade and investment support institutions (TISIs). ITC and GIZ have both financially contributed to the workshops, which costs were mainly covered by Vietrade.
Click here to learn more about the series of 12 training workshops.
ITC’s NTM project in Viet Nam has been made possible thanks to the financial support of Denmark.