I. INTRODUCTION
In order to support the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam’s agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has approved the project “Study on policy recommendations to support for development of small and medium enterprises in agricultural sector” - phase 2& 3, sponsored by Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation and assigned for Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development. One of the project’s objectives is to enhance communication capacity to support for development of agricultural SMEs.
After Vietnam became the member of World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2007, the process of global economic integration of Vietnam in general and agricultural sector in particular has come to new era. This event has brought Vietnam’s agriculture many opportunities to expand export market, create fair and transparent business environment and increasingly attract FDI. In particular, the trade relation between Vietnam and China (China became a member of World Trade Organization on December 11th 2001) has become more and more important because China is expected to be the potential export market for Vietnam’s goods with its huge consumption demand. However, China also has the ability to export essential products to Vietnam’s market and this will also create pressure on businesses and producers in the country. Moreover, beside normal trade exchanges, Vietnam and China are also the neighboring countries, so the border trade relation is unavoidable and significant. Border policies of the two nations have great impacts on their commercial activities.
Before Vietnam officially joined the WTO, China and ASEAN countries had signed in the free trade agreement – ACFTA. This is not only the Freest Trade Area signed between ASEAN and other countries but also the biggest Free Trade Area in the world with the population of 1.9 billion people. The trade relation between ASEAN and China has recently achieved significant movements. The key commitment in ACFTA is to cut down tariff between China and ASEAN countries. And tariff reduction commitments in ACFTA are much lower than those in WTO. Therefore, Vietnam-China trade relation is strongly influenced by the ACFTA commitments.
In order to possibly grasp recent changes in agricultural Vietnam-China Trade, evaluate how these changes affect Vietnam as well as further analyze the effects of trade liberalization, Project Management Unit is seeking the expert to review changes in agricultural trade between the two nations since WTO performance; then propose policy solutions to limit shortcomings in the border trade between Vietnam and China.
II. OBJECTIVES
Study on changes in agricultural trade between Vietnam and China since Vietnam joined WTO
III. TASKS
1. Overview of agreements related to Vietnam-China Trade, focusing on policies related to tariff and non-tariff
2. Researching the situation of agricultural export and import to China, challenges and difficulties in management of border trade between Vietnam and China
3. Evaluating impacts of trade agreements on some economic indicators of Vietnam and China
4. Designing the simulation scenario of trade policies and evaluating impacts of trade liberalizationbetween Vietnam and China.
IV. PRODUCTS
01 overview report and policy recommendation to develop trade with China effectively and help Vietnam’s enterprises proactively do business with Chinese partners.
V. TERMS OF IMPLEMENTATION
Contract duration: 50 working days (from September to December 2011)
The final report must be submitted no later than December 31st 2011
VI. BUDGET
Budget : 50 days * 2,800,000 VND/day = 140,000,000 VND
In words: One hundred and forty million dong only
VII. REQUIREMENTS
· Having master degree in agriculture, fisheries, economics and at least 05 years of experience in agricultural and rural development
· Having experiences in technical support in policies, especially trade policies for organizations and enterprises in agricultural sector
· Having excellent skills of generalization and analysis; having experiences in collaborating effectively with Government and other partners
· Grasping systems and procedures of Vietnamese Government
Apply by email only with CV in English, scan copies of relevant certificates before August 01st, 2011 to sme.ipsard@gmail.com