Vietnam, US launch new activity to facilitate digital trade

The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and the U.S. Mission to Vietnam on Friday launched a $3.25 million activity, supported by the USAID, to facilitate digital trade.

The activity, called Vietnam Digital Trade, comes as part of the new U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership announced during U.S. President Joseph Biden’s visit to Vietnam last month.

This new digital trade activity led by USAID and MoIT is the first to be launched under the two countries’ newly upgraded partnership, aiming to unleash the potential of digital trade to form a key driver of Vietnam’s continued growth.

The three-year activity supports the MoIT’s implementation of policy frameworks that facilitate digital trade, in consultation with the private sector. Regulations that are responsive to the private sector need to remove trade bottlenecks and increase regulatory transparency, helping to shape an e-commerce sector where enterprises of all sizes can benefit.

In addition, the activity encourages small and medium enterprise participation in digital trade by introducing new business models and other best practices, such as traceability of goods, as well as facilitating cross-border connections between enterprises via the MoIT’s digital trade promotion platform, called DECOBIZ.

The project supports business associations such as the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and Vietnam E-commerce Association to promote digital trade across the country. The project works through the MoIT and business associations to target female-owned enterprises and minority communities in support of inclusive economic growth.

USAID’s Vietnam Digital Trade activity advances the U.S. Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, under which Vietnam and the U.S. partner to harness innovation and pursue high-standard rules of the road in the digital economy to drive continued growth.

This activity builds on the U.S.’s successful partnership with Vietnam over the past two decades facilitating increased trade and improving the business enabling environment.

In July 2019, USAID launched a $21.7-million five-year project named Trade Facilitation Program. Thanks to it, the average time to clear goods across the border was cut in half, and traders are paying 45% less to complete cross-border procedures for imports.