Regional : Policy Coordination and Planning of Border Economic Zones of the People's Republic of China and Viet Nam

Sovereign Project | 49400-001

Project Name Policy Coordination and Planning of Border Economic Zones of the People's Republic of China and Viet Nam
Project Number 49400-001
Country / Economy Regional
China, People's Republic of
Viet Nam
Project Status Closed
Project Type / Modality of Assistance Technical Assistance
Source of Funding / Amount
TA 9293-REG: Policy Coordination and Planning of Border Economic Zones of the People's Republic of China and Viet Nam
People's Republic of China Poverty Reduction and Regional Cooperation Fund US$ 400,000.00
Strategic Agendas Inclusive economic growth
Regional integration
Drivers of Change Partnerships
Sector / Subsector

Industry and trade / Trade and services

Gender No gender elements
Description
Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy
Impact

Integration along the GMS NorthSouth Economic Corridor improved (Strategy and Action Plan for the Greater Mekong Subregion NorthSouth Economic Corridor)a

Project Outcome
Description of Outcome

Capacity to develop, manage, negotiate, and promote BEZs in the border areas of the PRC and Viet Nam enhanced

Progress Toward Outcome

The TA impact will be improved integration along the GMS NorthSouth Economic

Corridor, in line with the Strategy and Action Plan for the Greater Mekong Subregion NorthSouth Economic Corridor. The outcome will be enhanced capacity to develop,manage, negotiate, and promote BEZs in the border areas of the PRC and Viet Nam.

The TA will deliver three outputs.Output 1: Policy recommendations for coordinated border economic zone development formulated. The TA will support BEZ implementation by formulating a medium term BEZ development strategy and action plans for each country and area identified for BEZ development. The strategy and plans will provide guidance for policy, legal, and regulatory

improvements; and help target investment sources and export market opportunities to inform BEZ promotional activities. They will also incorporate monitoring tools to measure the BEZs' economic and social impact, and will be designed to reflect national development priorities.

Several studies will inform the BEZ development strategy and action plans, and are

expected to include(i) an assessment of existing policies, legal and regulatory frameworks, and institutional mechanisms for BEZ development and management;

(ii) a market feasibility study to determine the competitive advantages of BEZ designated areas and industries, and assess market potential, as well as market

surveys to forecast potential investment demand and identify investors;

(iii) an assessment of border clearance processes for key goods and services to

identify physical and nonphysical bottlenecks to trade, and gaps in border

infrastructure and bilateral coordination; and

(iv) an assessment of cross-border labor and employment policiesincluding legal

safeguards and mechanisms to implement labor rights and working standards

as well as other factors of cross-border mobility, to formulate recommendations

to strengthen and coordinate cross-border labor protection mechanisms.

The scope of research may be adjusted, as needed, to respond to issues that emerge during bilateral negotiations and regional agreement implementation.

Output 2: Coordination mechanisms for the development and management of the

border economic zones and publicprivate coordination strengthened. The TA will provide localized support for joint planning and coordination of provincial governments in the PRC and Viet Nam with linkages to national processes and, where required, will support ongoing bilateral negotiations to establish cross-border economic cooperation zones. The project team will work with government authorities to identify the preferred support modality, and will coordinate with

an ADB initiative working across six countries to facilitate urban planning and infrastructure development in GMS border areas.

In addition, the TA will finance publicprivate forums to strengthen coordination and help assess the feasibility of the BEZ development plans based on investors' needs. Private sector participants may include the GMS Business Forum, GMS Freight Transport Association, research institutions, and other stakeholders. Consultations with the private sector will serve to prescribe policy options to attract domestic and foreign direct investment in priority industries, including fiscal incentives, hard and soft infrastructure facilities, access to finance and capital,

business facilitation, governance, and BEZ management structure. The frequency of the publicprivate forums will be determined based on the needs identified during implementation.

Output 3: Capacity building of government stakeholders conducted. The TA will

include a capacity-building and training component on topics agreed at inception and that emerge during implementation and consultations, with the participation of resource persons (as required). Capacity building may include on-the-job training for staff members of relevant government agencies on BEZ development, management, and promotion; and on effective negotiation with potential investors. The TA will seek opportunities to promote knowledge exchange and international good practice learning. The GMS Economic Corridors Forum and

GMS Governors Forum may also be used as venues for knowledge-sharing activities.

The TA will help formulate BEZ operational guidelines to complement training and

knowledge-sharing activities. The guidelines will address capacity-building needs identified by the assessment and during consultations with both governments for BEZ development, management, negotiation, and promotion.

Stakeholders will be consulted through an inception workshop, two preliminary

consultations to present and discuss findings, and a final strategy dissemination and discussion workshop.

Implementation Progress
Description of Project Outputs

Policy recommendations for coordinated BEZ development formulated

Coordination mechanisms for the development and management of the BEZs and publicprivate coordination strengthened

Capacity building of government stakeholders conducted

Status of Implementation Progress (Outputs, Activities, and Issues)

TA inception workshop was conducted on 30 January through 5 February 2018. The TA implementation was launched at two separate inception workshops in Dongxing, PRC and Ha Noi, Viet Nam, alongside field visits of Dongxing and Pingxiang BEZs. Altogether the workshops were attended by approximately 90 stakeholders from the PRC and Viet Nam (including private sector representatives).

The workshops highlighted the strong commitment of both governments for the TA. Stakeholders in Viet Nam identified the opportunity to understand the Chinese perspective, its markets, policies and trends to better leverage opportunities for improving market access of Vietnamese enterprises and traders in the PRC. Common across the PRC and Viet Nam was the lack of top-level institutional direction to move forward with BEZ development plans in a coordinated way. Although the political commitment for BEZ development was demonstrable at the highest levels of government, key policy actions were clearly needed in both the PRC and Viet Nam to translate the political commitment into actions related to border and customs procedures.

Consequently, the TA was set out to (i) focus on identifying key inhibitors of cross-border trade and border area market development to improve cross-border trade flows and local value addition, expand market access, and create an inclusive investment climate that is compatible with small-holder investors; (ii) identify priority investment needs for potential ADB funding, in recognition of the fact that soft infrastructure alone will not suffice to accelerate BEZ development and therefore needs to be supported by investments in trade-related infrastructure, particularly in Viet Nam; and (iii) provide capacity building support tailored to the respective needs in the PRC and Viet Nam by helping raise awareness and agree on common definitions of BEZs, sharing international best practices and lessons learned, and providing technical support for cross-border planning and harmonization, and development of enabling policies. The TA inception report is attached.

The ADB project team partnered with UN ESCAP to develop a concept paper for a 'Business Process Analysis Plus study to assess trade transactions for import and export of key goods and services, and develop recommendations for prioritization of trade facilitation measures, investment in infrastructure at the border, and bilateral coordination.

In May 2018, minor change of the implementation arrangement was made to (i) increase the international consultant from 2 months to 3 months; (ii) engage four local consultants to help on data collection and analytical works.

One international and two national consultants in Viet Nam were recruited; the recruitment of two national consultants in the PRC was not completed due to lack of competitive submissions and operational uncertainties.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) of Viet Nam submitted a formal request on 4 July 2018 to put TA activities on hold until conclusion of the bilateral Framework Agreement on building Viet Nam PRC cross-border economic cooperation zones (under negotiation at the mail sending time). Further to this request, TA activities have been put on hold. We have since sought to identify a way forward; however, it doesn't work out. So we have to close the TA as scheduled by end of March 2019.

Geographical Location China - Nation-wide; Viet Nam - Nation-wide
Summary of Environmental and Social Aspects
Environmental Aspects
Involuntary Resettlement
Indigenous Peoples
Stakeholder Communication, Participation, and Consultation
During Project Design Extensive consultations were conducted during project preparation with key stakeholders, including central and provincial-level government agencies in both countries, research institutions and development partners.
During Project Implementation
Business Opportunities
Consulting Services A total of 7.5 person-months of international consultant and 12 person-months of national consultant inputs will be required to provide technical services. The consultants will be engaged on as individual consultants by ADB in accordance with the Guidelines on the Use of Consultants (2013, as amended from time to time).
Responsible ADB Officer Karimova, Zulfia K.
Responsible ADB Department East Asia Department
Responsible ADB Division Public Mgt, Financial Sector and Regional Coop Division, EARD
Executing Agencies
Asian Development Bank
Timetable
Concept Clearance 07 Apr 2016
Fact Finding 25 Apr 2016 to 29 Apr 2016
MRM -
Approval 10 Jan 2017
Last Review Mission -
Last PDS Update 21 Mar 2019

TA 9293-REG

Milestones
Approval Signing Date Effectivity Date Closing
Original Revised Actual
10 Jan 2017 - 10 Jan 2017 29 Mar 2019 - 19 Jun 2019
Financing Plan/TA Utilization Cumulative Disbursements
ADB Cofinancing Counterpart Total Date Amount
Gov Beneficiaries Project Sponsor Others
0.00 400,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 400,000.00 17 Jun 2022 79,353.32

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Safeguard Documents See also: Safeguards
Safeguard documents provided at the time of project/facility approval may also be found in the list of linked documents provided with the Report and Recommendation of the President.

None currently available.


Evaluation Documents See also: Independent Evaluation

None currently available.


Related Publications

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Tenders

Tender Title Type Status Posting Date Deadline
Trade and transport Facilitation Specialist (PRC-1) Individual - Consulting Closed
Trade and Transport Facilitaton Specialist (PRC-2) Individual - Consulting Closed
Trade and Transport Facilitation Specialist 9VIE-1) Individual - Consulting Closed
Trade and Transport Facilitation Specialists (VIE-2) Individual - Consulting Closed
National Economist and Deputy Team Leader Individual - Consulting Closed
Economist and Deputy Team Leader for PRC - National Individual - Consulting Closed
National Economist and Deputy Team Leader - VIE Individual - Consulting Closed

Contracts Awarded

No contracts awarded for this project were found

Procurement Plan

None currently available.