Short-term Trade Policy and Trade Statistics 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 1.1. The primary objective of FTA 1.1 is to improve the capacity of government officials, primarily in International Cooperation Department, Ministry of Finance and any other relevant agencies, to understand tariff nomenclature and transpose Viet Nam’s tariff schedule from AHTN 2017 to AHTN 2022. The secondary objective of FTA 1.1 is to improve the capacity of government officials, businesses, and researchers in Viet Nam to analyse trade statistics, including by HS code, in order to assess both the implementation of Viet Nam’s tariff commitments as well as the impact of tariff reduction on Viet Nam’s economy.

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

1. Expert 1 - Trade policy expert

Tasks

The following tasks will be carried out by the expert:

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

· Draft agreed knowledge briefs to be uploaded onto the MOIT trade portal on topics including but not limited to: HS nomenclature and its use in tariff schedules, HS and AHTN transposition, tariff commitments under the EVFTA, and EVFTA implementation and effectiveness;

· Develop training materials on HS and AHTN, focusing in particular on how to transpose Vietnam’s HS code from AHTN 2017 to AHTN 2022;

· Develop training materials on how to monitor Vietnam’s implementation of tariff commitments under EVFTA using HS codes and trade data; and

· Develop training materials on how to analyse trade statistics to assess the impact of EVFTA.

· Support persons and activities funded through the incidentals budget

Required qualifications:

· University degree, preferably at a Master’s level, in Public Policy or related field; with majors in economics, trade, or statistics.

· A minimum of 10 years of work experience on international trade policies and have completed similar assignments in at least three countries (work experience in at least five OECD countries is considered an advantage);

· Experience and ability in trade transposition.

· Relevant previous trade policy work about Viet Nam’s FTAs desirable;

· Knowledge of EVFTA, HS codes and AHTN required;

· 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 business community

· Knowledge of trade statistics (e.g., analysing import and export data, data on C/O form utilization, etc.) and how this can be used to assess the effectiveness of trade policy and trade agreements highly desirable

Place of work: Ha Noi, Viet Nam

2. Expert 2 – Trade Statistics Expert

Tasks

The following tasks will be carried out by the expert:

· Support, as required, Expert 1 in the research and development of knowledge briefs training materials;

· Support, as required, Expert 1 in delivering the training;

· Develop methods for statistical analysis of trade data and statistics, including by HS code, to assess both implementation of Vietnam’s tariff commitments as well as the impact of tariff reduction on Vietnam’s economy;

· Deliver training to government officials, businesses and researchers on how to analyse trade data and statistics;

· Transpose Viet Nam’s tariff schedule from AHTN 2017 to AHTN 2022.

Required Qualifications

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

· A minimum of 3 years of work experience on trade policies and excellent knowledge of Viet Nam’s commitments under various FTAs with a focus on statistical analysis;

· Demonstrable experience in analysing trade and statistics and developing models and methodologies on how to assess both implementation of Vietnam’s tariff commitments as well as the impact of tariff reduction on Viet Nam’s economy. Experience also training people in how to use these methodologies desirable;

· Demonstrable experience writing, editing, and distributing various types of content, including technical materials, marketing materials, and other types of content 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 business community;

· Excellent skills in both English and Vietnamese languages

Place of work: Ha Noi, Viet Nam

APPLICATION

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: 25th 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