Short-term Trade Law Expert

ARISE + Viet Nam is seeking to recruit various short-term experts for implementation of the Project Annual Work Plan Year 1 (2021-2022)

“The ASEAN Regional Integration Support by EU (ARISE) Plus – Viet Nam Trade-Related Technical Assistance (ARISE+ Viet Nam)” is a European Union-funded project. The overall objective of the ARISE+ Viet Nam project is inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction in Viet Nam, while the specific objective of the project is to provide technical assistance to the Vietnamese Government to maximise Viet Nam’s benefits from preferential trade regimes, with a focus on regional trade agreements and the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the EU-Viet Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA). DAI Human Dynamics is implementing this project together with consortium partners: VCCI, Eurocham and Gopa.

ARISE + Viet Nam is implementing activity FTA 1.6. The objective is to develop an Arbitrator Selection Mechanism for the Dispute Settlement Arbitration Panel in accordance with Chapter 15 of the EVFTA to resolve trade disputes between Parties. According to Decision No.1201/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister approving the Plan to implement the Free Trade Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and the European Union (August 6, 2020), Decision No. 1175 / QD-TTg of the Prime Minister on the appointment of a focal department to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Viet Nam and the European Union (August 4, 2020), and Decision No. 2055/QD-BTP promulgating MOJ’s Plan to implement Decision No. 1201/QD-TTg and Decision No. 1175/QD-TTg (October 2, 2020), MOJ is assigned to conduct research on developing an Arbitrator Selection Mechanism for the Dispute Settlement Arbitration Panel under Chapter 15 of the EVFTA.

We are urgently looking for interested candidates to join our team under short-term expert position as following:

Trade Law Expert

Tasks

The following tasks will be carried out by the expert:

· Conduct the first meeting with MOJ officials and KE1 to agree on priorities and scope of training, research and offer up suggestions;

· Conduct research on how to develop an arbitrator selection mechanism for the Dispute Settlement Arbitration Panel;

· Technical research regarding the regulation, selection, management, training, and utilisation of Arbitrator Selection Mechanisms in the EVFTA's Dispute Settlement Arbitration Panel;

· Research on how this is done in other countries and how it can be applied to the Vietnamese context;

· Produce a research report detailing above research and provide recommendations on developing an Arbitrator Selection Mechanism for the EVFTA;

· Conduct a workshop to share the research report and recommendations with Vietnamese and EU enterprises and Government officials;

· Gather feedback on the research report from the workshop and incorporate this into a final report

· Support persons and activities funded through incidentals budget

Anticipated support from KE1/ARISE+ project:

· Provide reference resources and additional information from other EU-FTA signatories and their respective Arbitrator Selection Mechanisms

· Provide technical backstopping as necessary

Required qualifications:

· University degree, preferably at a Master’s level, in Law, Public Policy or related field;

· A minimum of 5 years of work experience in international trade law and have completed similar assignments in at least three countries (work experience in at least five OECD countries is considered an advantage);

· Knowledge of trade dispute settlements and arbitration of trade dispute settlement required;

· Previous experience related to research surrounding an Arbitrator Selection Mechanism desirable;

· Relevant previous trade policy and trade law work in Viet Nam desirable;

· Demonstrable experience writing, editing, and distributing various types of training and other types of content related to trade that take the message to businesses and other import/export stakeholders; experience in drafting for government agencies, business communities strongly preferred

· Good networks with government agencies and the business community.

Place of work: Ha Noi, Viet Nam

Interested candidates are requested to send their application in English to DAI via

Hanna_KuulaVerbaan@dai.com and include the job title in your email subject line.

Deadline for Application: 31st October 2021

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis and it is recommended to send application before the deadline.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted