Regional Trade Facilitation Coordinator

Position: Regional Trade Facilitation Coordinator
Period of Performance: August 2018 to August 2021*
                                      (*subject to extension upon manager recommendation)
Place of Performance: Ba Dinh District, Hanoi, Vietnam

Project Background:

Nathan Associates Inc. is implementing a USAID project in Vietnam to support the adoption and implementation of a risk management approach to customs, which will facilitate the implementation of the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement of which both Vietnam and the United States (U.S.) are members. Nathan Associates Inc. will work with The General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC) to ensure simplification, harmonization, professionalization, and adoption and implementation of risk management customs approaches at the national and provincial levels to expedite cross-border trade and to enable Vietnam to implement WTO TFA commitments. The Project team will work with the GDVC, private sector and other Government of Vietnam (GVN) agencies to simplify policies and across GVN units, foster stronger linkages between national and provincial levels, and improve coordination and implementation at the provincial level.

Overview

Nathan Associates Inc. will provide assistance to the Government of Vietnam at both national and provincial levels. In order to achieve this, Nathan Associates Inc. will work with the GDVC, private sector and other Government of Vietnam (GVN) agencies to simplify policies and across GVN units, foster stronger linkages between national and provincial levels, and improve coordination and implementation at the provincial level. plans to have Provincial Trade Facilitation Coordinators located and working directly in five selected provinces. These provincial coordinators will be required to cooperate with and support both public and private sector stakeholders in their respective province to build capacity, increase engagement, implement policy and harmonize procedures and further the objectives of the Program. This will include customs and line ministry departments involved with clearance of goods, risk management and undertaking specialized inspection.

The USAID project aims to improve coordination between national and provincial levels while also strengthening of coordination, cooperation and implementation at provincial level and inter-provincial level. The Provincial Trade Facilitation Coordinator’s task and activity will be aimed at implementation of trade facilitation policies and procedures at the provincial level in a harmonized and effective manner and achieving greater involvement and engagement with the private sector.

The primary role of the Regional Trade Facilitation Coordinator will be to oversee, coordinate and provide technical inputs to the activities of Program staff who will be located in, and responsible for, selected provinces in the North and Central areas of Vietnam (in essence these will be the Provincial Trade Facilitation Coordinators and the Private Sector Outreach Specialist for the region but it may also include other short-term technical inputs). The Regional Trade Facilitation Coordinator will be based in Hanoi and will be required to visit provinces as needed to cooperate and collaborate with stakeholders to include GDVC, provincial Customs Departments, line ministries and provincial departments associated with specialized inspection. The Regional Trade Facilitation Coordinator will need to work closely with private sector stakeholders such as business associations, traders etc.

As previously stated, the USAID project will work in five pre-selected provinces but as it is still yet to be decided specifically which provinces the Program will focus its activities on; the Regional Coordinator will initially assist the Chief of Party (COP) and Senior Trade Facilitation Expert (STFE) in implementing other technical aspects of the USAID Vietnam Trade Facilitation Program. This will include contributing to work planning, progress reporting, assisting with data gathering and analysis as part of the provincial selection process and participating in visits to short-listed provinces to collect additional data or information. The Regional Coordinator will be expected to implement all tasks efficiently, effectively and to the highest professional standards.

Responsibilities and Tasks

The Regional Trade Facilitation Coordinator will initially support the following tasks:

• Contributing to the Year 1 Annual Work Plan with a focus on national-provincial communications and coordination, risk management, specialized inspection and other trade facilitation measures;
• Assist with the gathering and analysis of data to propose and validate preliminary provincial selection and to short-list provinces (i.e. this could include trade flows and volumes, trade corridors, SMEs engaged in trade, type of goods imported or exported, foreign and domestic investments, industrial zones, etc.);
• Support and participate in site visits to short-listed provinces with the aim to gather additional data or information in order to confirm selection; and
• Other contributions to the project as directed by the COP and/or STFE. When appropriate the Regional Trade Facilitation Coordinator will thereafter assume responsibility for the following tasks:
• Assist to establish a functioning effective national-provincial cooperation structure aimed at customs and line ministries for trade facilitation policy and procedures;
• Assist the national-provincial cooperation structure to review, prioritize, and implement trade facilitation policy, measures and procedures as related to risk management and specialized inspection, so as to harmonize implementation;
• Initiate and support technical skills training and learning for customs officers and operational staff from other line ministries;
• Oversee and manage the activities and performance of the Provincial Trade Facilitation Coordinators and Private Sector Outreach Specialist for the selected provinces within their geographical area of responsibility;
• Assist GDVC to develop and maintain effective working relationships with key staff in other Program beneficiary institutions i.e. line ministries and departments.
• Other contributions to the Program as directed by the COP, DCOP and/or STFE.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in law, economics, business administration, international trade, trade policy, customs administration, or similar field (Bachelor degree with more
• than 10 years of experience in field may be accepted);
• Minimum 7 years of experience working with Vietnamese government at Central and/or Provincial levels;
• Proven experience of working or collaborating with the private sector;
• Proven knowledge and understanding of requirements under the Customs Law, border procedures, imports-exports specialized inspection matters, Resolution 19
• of the Government and the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement;
• Able to solve problems as well as exercise considerable analysis and judgement to identify solutions;
• Strong communication, interpersonal, and leadership skills. Excellent oral and written communication skills;
• Proficient in word processing, spreadsheets and office software such as Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Google Applications; and
• Fluency in English and Vietnamese.

Reporting

The Regional Trade Facilitation Coordinator will report to the Senior Trade Facilitation Expert, Alistair Gall.

Application Submission:

Interested applicants can submit their CVs/Resumes through https://tinyurl.com/VietnamTFPJobs. The deadline of applications is August 1, 2018 at 6:00 pm Hanoi Time. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

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