Japan Helps Vietnam Improve Competitiveness Capacity

Japan will help Vietnam promote fair competition in the business market through a JPY140 million ($1.75 million) project which has started this week, state media reported. The agreement to the project was signed between the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Vietnam Competition Authority (VCA) in the capital city of Hanoi on Jul 3. The four-year project will help the VCA amend the Competition Law to suit increasing economic activities, strengthen investigations, and promote advocacy of laws and policies in Vietnam. These goals will be achieved through several activities, including training courses for VCA investigators and dissemination campaigns for Government members, enterprises, consumers and academics. Effective in 2005, the Competition Law is considered as a necessary tool to set up an open and transparent economy in Vietnam. However, experts said that Vietnam needs to revise it to meet rising issues in the development process. According to the 2012 business environment report by the World Bank, Vietnam dropped six places in competitiveness, which is not a good signal. (Vietnam News Jul 4, Tuoi Tre –Youth Jul 4 p16, ven.vn Jul 4)