Trade Facilitation, Value Creation, and Competiveness : Policy Implications for Vietnam's Economic Growth, Volume 1

This report explores the role of trade
facilitation and logistics in driving export and ultimately
national competitiveness. It posits that this area of trade
consists of three interrelated pillars: (i) transport
infrastructure and logistics services; (ii) regulatory
procedures for exports and imports; and (iii) supply chain
organization. Transport infrastructure and logistics
services relate to the physical aspects of trade flows.
Logistics services include a variety of services, the most
important of which are transportation, storage and
consolidation. This summary is organized into nine sections.
After the introduction, section two presents the conceptual
framework for this study. The economic context under which
trade facilitation is discussed is outlined in section
three. It describes Vietnam's evolving structure of
trade and competitiveness. The country's trade
logistics is part of this structure and this is germane to
understanding the key issues and solutions proposed. This is
followed by discussion of the three pillars of trade
facilitation in sections four to six and then section seven
presents the institutional framework underpinning these
pillars. Section eight then pulls together the diverse roles
of government, such as setting policies, acting as
regulator, and being the facilitator working in
collaboration with key stakeholders. The conclusion, section
nine, suggests a set of recommendations.