Quarterly Report April – June 2019

The program is a five-year project that seeks to facilitate the implementation of the World Trade Organization's Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). The primary Government of Vietnam (GVN) counterpart for the program is the General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC), which also acts as the focal point of the National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC) for Vietnam. The program's objectives include harmonizing and simplifying key risk management and specialized inspections-related policies at the central level, strengthening the role of the NTFC, and enhancing the partnership between customs and the private sector. The program also aims to strengthen national-provincial coordination of trade facilitation strategies and facilitate import and export of goods. In Quarter 3 of Fiscal Year 2019, the program completed several activities and achieved notable results. A key milestone was achieved on May 24th when Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Din Hue signed the project document, paving the way for formal Official Development Assistance (ODA) approval. The program also conducted four training courses on the use of the World Customs Organization's (WCO) CliKC! e-learning online application, resulting in 106 officials of the GDVC and local customs departments obtaining Certificates of Achievements from the WCO. The partnership between the GDVC and the program team continued to deepen, with growing trust and a professional capacity and result-oriented attitude of the program team. The program team also made substantial progress in cross-cutting activities, including the development of the Private Sector Engagement Strategy and Plan, the Strategic Communications Plan, and the inventory and analysis of surveys conducted by the GVN. In the next quarter, the program will focus on the organization of the project launch event to increase awareness among GVN units and other stakeholders of the program's objectives and activities. The program will also conduct sub-national events in the central and southern localities of Vietnam to introduce the program's objectives and activities while increasingly targeting the private sector. The program will continue implementing activities started in Quarter 3, including training of trainers for the WCO CLiKC! E-learning package, and the dissemination and training for the Revised Circular 39/2015 on valuation. The program will also start an ambitious number of new technical activities on key trade facilitation-related subjects, including supporting the GDVC in finalizing and promoting a new circular on Risk Management and a Decree on e-commerce, and conducting two survey activities geared towards the private sector. The program will also support the implementation of two capacity building-related activities: producing a report on the feasibility of setting up an e-learning training system at the Vietnam Customs School, and organizing a training course for GDVC officials on the use of 'R' programming software for measuring trade compliance.