As the only representative of Vietnam, surpassing 126 educational institutions of 54 member countries in the world, Foreign Trade University has become one of 17 educational institutions that have won the right to participate in the “WTO chair Program” ( WCP) phase 3.
To mark this important event, on May 6, 2022, Foreign Trade University held a launching ceremony of the WTO chair program – FTU with the theme “Strengthening cooperation between industry actors and organizations, academic and government in implementing Vietnam’s commitments in WTO and new generation FTAs”.
Attending the ceremony on the side of the guests were Mr. Nguyen Hoang Giang – Deputy Minister of Science and Technology; Mr. Nguyen Khanh Ngoc – Deputy Minister of Justice; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Van Linh – Vice Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council; Ms. Anabel Gonzales – Deputy General Director, World Trade Organization; Mr. Werner Zdouc – Director of the WTO program chair, Ms. Le Thi Tuyet Mai – Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Head of the Permanent Delegation of Vietnam to the United Nations, WTO and other international organizations in Geneva together with Mr. representatives of many ministries, embassies, WTO members, international and national associations, organizations, domestic and international universities. On the side of Foreign Trade University, there were Assoc., Dr. Bui Anh Tuan – Principal; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Thi Thu Thuy – Chairwoman of the University Council; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Thu Huong – Vice Principal; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dao Ngoc Tien – Vice Principal; Assoc. Prof, Dr. Trinh Thi Thu Huong – Programme Director, Vice Dean of School of Economics and International Business, members of the Project Board, leaders of units, and staff and students of the University.
In the opening speech, Assoc. Prof, Dr. Bui Anh Tuan propose solutions to connect stakeholders in the implementation of Vietnam’s commitments in the WTO and new-generation FTAs, the WTO chair program at Foreign Trade University identifies the overall goal of the program as “Increasing strengthen cooperation among actors in the industry, academic institutions and the government in the implementation of Vietnam’s commitments in the WTO and new generation FTAs. To achieve that goal, Foreign Trade University intends to carry out many activities around the three main pillars of the program: research activities, training program development activities and outreach activities with direct support of the WTO and the cooperation of partners. He expressed his hope and belief that the WTO chair – FTU program will create a foundation for extensive cooperation between the business community, industry associations, research organizations and policy makers in the field of trade. international trade in order to better meet the requirements of the country’s development practice in the coming period.
Assoc., Dr. Trinh Thi Thu Huong – Programme Director chaired the speech of the parties.
Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Hoang Giang affirmed that Foreign Trade University was selected to carry out activities within the framework of the WTO chair program as one of the starting points for the development of the World Trade Organization for the process of implementing the strategic development goals of the University in the new period. The Deputy Minister emphasized with the values that the school’s WTO Chair programme has, is and will bring, he hopes that the University will play an important role and become a bridge between the three parties: State agencies – University – Enterprise, contributing to help Vietnam effectively solve economic and legal problems arising from the process of integration into the multilateral trading system or the process of regional trade liberalization. He also expressed his belief in the ability to effectively implement the WTO chair program of Foreign Trade University – the first university in Vietnam with intensive training in international trade and a highly regarded university on connectivity, domestic and international cooperation as well as internal and external resource coordination. Finally, the Deputy Minister affirmed that with the functions and tasks of the Ministry of Science and Technology as the state management agency in science and technology and innovation, the Ministry always supports and is ready to accompany the program. WTO chair program of Foreign Trade University in particular and WTO chair program in general.
Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Justice Nguyen Khanh Ngoc also congratulated Foreign Trade University for becoming the first training institution in Vietnam that was honored to be selected by the WTO chair program to join the program. He affirmed that this is the honor and pride not only of the University but also of training and research institutions on international trade in Vietnam. He believes that the University will make the most of its advantages and opportunities to participate in the WTO chair program to complete training programs, scientific research and activities to promote and improve understanding of trade. international. Finally, he sincerely thanked the World Trade Organization for its efforts in recent years to help member countries, including the WTO chair program so that countries like Vietnam increasingly benefits from active participation in technical assistance activities from the multilateral trading system. The Deputy Minister also expressed his hope that the WTO will create conditions and consider that many Vietnamese higher education institutions can participate in the WTO chair program in the near future.
Mr. Luong Hoang Thai – Director of the Multilateral Trade Policy Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that since joining the WTO in January 2007, Vietnam’s process of international economic integration has achieved many positive results in expanding international trade relations with WTO member countries, signing free trade agreements, including new generation free trade agreements. It can be said that in terms of international trade, Vietnam is one of the typical examples of opening up and liberalizing trade to help the country develop, better socio-economic. In the process, the Government of Vietnam is aware of the importance of the WTO global trading system and has always shown itself as a responsible member in this system. Faced with the challenges and difficulties of international trade recently, a developing country like Vietnam is significantly affected, placing higher requirements on research, policy making, and training. capacity of staff including policy makers and practitioners of international trade policy and a link between government agencies and research and training institutions and with citizens and businesses . In that context, he highly appreciated the efforts of Foreign Trade University in surpassing many other institutions to be selected to participate in the WTO chair program. He affirmed that this is a good start for a new process ahead.
Also at the ceremony, Ms. Anabel Gonzales – Deputy General Director, World Trade Organization sent her best congratulations to Foreign Trade University for successfully passing the rigorous and competitive selection rounds to become a member of the Foreign Trade University to become the only representative of Vietnam to win the right to participate in WCP phase 3. She addressed that the WTO chair program was launched in 2010 to improve knowledge and understanding of the trading system among academics and other stakeholders. policy makers in developing countries through curriculum development, research activities and communication activities, spreading at universities and research institutions. Academic institutions that have won positions in the WTO chair receive support in the areas of research, training program development and communication activities, spreading to the community. The five main objectives of the WTO chair Program are: Promoting research in trade-related issues and promote related policy; Supporting the development and implementation of courses on international trade and support for teaching activities; Encouraging communication activities, spreading to the community; Comparing and contrast information and promote knowledge sharing on international trade; Establishing and linking close academic networks. She expressed her expectation that Foreign Trade University would make many active and positive contributions to the operation of WCP in general and of Vietnam in particular during her tenure.
At the ceremony, representatives of embassies, organizations, universities, domestic and international industry associations gave congratulatory speeches, appreciating the role of Foreign Trade University and expressed their appreciation for the role of Foreign Trade University, believed that the University will contribute many values to stakeholders when participating in the program WTO chair phase 3.
Mr. Werner Zdouc – Director of the WTO Chairs Programme
Ms. Le Thi Tuyet Mai – Ambassador, Head of the Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the United Nations, WTO and other international organizations in Geneva
Ms. Hortense Nesseler – Representative of the French Delegation to the WTO
Mr. Mason Interlandi – Second Secretary, Australian Delegation to WTO
Prof. Dr. Peter Van den Bossche – Member of Advisory Board, WTO Chairs Programme
Prof. Michael Ewing Chow – Director of the WTO Chair Programme at the National University of Singapore
Assoc. Prof, Dr. Maarten Smeets – Senior Advisor of the WTO Chair programme at Foreign Trade University
On this occasion, Foreign Trade University also signed a cooperation agreement with the parties including WTO Center (VCCI), Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), World Trade Institute (WTI) of University University of Bern (Switzerland), University of Wollongong (Australia) to accompany the project implementation.
Within the framework of the ceremony, the roundtable discussion chaired by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vu Thi Hien – Head of Training Management Department with the participation of guests has further concretized the contents of the project.
Addressing the closing ceremony, Assoc. Prof., Dr. Pham Thu Huongonce again affirmed the interest of the delegates attending the ceremony, which partly shows the goal that the WTO chair Program at Foreign Trade University is aiming to promote cooperation between stakeholders, between state and non-state actors, between public and private organizations, between researchers and between policy makers and practitioners in practice, between participating agencies FTA negotiators and the beneficiaries directly from the negotiation results.
She emphasized: “We shared the belief that came from the World Trade Organization’s philosophy that free trade is the foundation of prosperity. Now we continue to share the belief that cooperation between us will promote greater prosperity, equity and inclusion.We believe that our cooperation and engagement are necessary and vital to the benefit and effectiveness of all. By strengthening connections and establishing networks and coordination mechanisms among industry actors, academic institutions and planning agencies policy, we believe that each party in particular and Vietnam in general will reap many benefits from international trade, contributing to realizing the goal of sustainable development and prosperity.”
MC of the ceremony
Distinguished Guests
The kick-off ceremony was a great success, opening up a future of close cooperation between key stakeholders in training, research, planning and implementation of international trade policy. The school hopes to continue to receive the attention of stakeholders in the upcoming series of activities to be held within the framework of the WTO chair program at Foreign Trade University.
Press release: Vietnam Television: https://vtv.vn/video/viet-nam-hom-nay-06-5-2022-558021.htm (from 8:10 to 9:05)
HCM City Television: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-I-7OlAf5RE8CsDPz04z0n1JNqHqmci-
ĐT ĐCS news: https://dangcongsan.vn/giao-duc/cam-ket-cua-viet-nam-trong-wto-va-cac-fta-the-he-moi-609531.html
https://dangcongsan.vn/video/truong-dai-hoc-ngoai-thuong-khang-dinh-uy-tin-trong-hoi-nhap-quoc-te-1885629.html/p/1
https://dangcongsan.vn/video/ban-tin-thoi-su-ngay-6-5-2022-1885632.html/p/1 (from 2:00 to 3:33)
Dân trí News: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc-huong-nghiep/co-so-dai-hoc-duy-nhat-viet-nam-tham-gia-wto-chair-programme-20220507185905330.htm
GD&TĐ News: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/ket-noi/truong-dh-ngoai-thuong-khoi-dong-chuong-trinh-wto-chair-C6JXnol7g.html
Vietnamnews: https://vietnamnews.vn/society/1189836/foreign-trade-university-joins-wto-chair-programme.html
Thời đại news: https://thoidai.com.vn/ftu-khoi-dong-chuong-trinh-wto-chair-167839.html&mobile=yes&=1
Báo mới đây: https://www.baomoiday.net/Xa-hoi/FTU-khoi-dong-chuong-trinh-WTO-chair-3472845.html
ASEAN – Việt Nam portal: https://aseanvietnam.vn/post/cam-ket-cua-viet-nam-trong-wto-va-cac-fta-the-he-moi
