CONCEPT PAPER

"VIOIT Dialogue" 17th Session

Background: "VIOIT Dialogue," an informal monthly forum to discuss various

industry and trade-related issues of Viet Nam under strict application of
"Chatham House Rules," was initiated by the Vietnam Institute of
Strategy and Policy for Industry and Trade (VIOIT) in October 2021.
VIOIT looks forward to further widening its network of partners while
deepening discussions through the monthly VIOIT Dialogue. VIOIT
seeks to expand its international and domestic networks with outside
experts to understand better wide-ranging perspectives on various
industry and trade sector issues facing Viet Nam, and we are honored
to have you with us.

17th Session: Date and Time. The 17th Session of the "VIOIT Dialogue" will be held
on 21 January 2023 (Tuesday) at 2:00 p.m. (Ha Noi time) through a
Zoom link (to be sent to the participants in due course). The duration
will be 60-90 minutes.

Theme. "How should Viet Nam prepare for the post-pandemic era?”
will be the theme. China’s shift away from the “zero-CORONA” policy
has clearly signaled to the whole world that after 3 years, we are now
entering into the “post-pandemic” era, although we are mindful that this
does not mean that the pandemic is over. Two things are clear: (i) the
“post-pandemic” era is a “with CORONA” era, and human society
needs to continue with the fight against the pandemic; and (ii) we are
not going back to the “pre-COVID” era. For example, the “work from
home” arrangements adopted during the pandemic will remain an
alternative way of working, and the extensive use of videoconferencing
with participants in many different parts of the world will continue.
Supply chain disruptions reminded the companies of the need to
diversify supply sources and the importance of “business continuity
plans.” There will be emerging opportunities and challenges in the
process toward the post-pandemic era. How should Viet Nam’s
industry and trade sectors position themselves and take full advantage
of the opportunities to be created? Isn’t it too optimistic to assume that
 Viet Nam will “recover” without any specific efforts?

Topics: Why can’t we let the economy “recover” automatically? What

would be the challenges? Viet Nam was doing extremely well before
the pandemic has started. While the Vietnamese economy, particularly
small businesses, has significantly suffered during the pandemic era,
so far Vietnamese economy is recovering very rapidly, and it seems the
“recovery” is already happening. What would be the impediments to
the recovery of the Vietnamese economy to continue?

How will the post-pandemic business context for industry and

trade sectors differ from the pre-pandemic era? What exactly will
be the “opportunities” and “challenges” for Viet Nam? It is
appreciated that many global companies have started diversifying their
supply chains. The consideration of geopolitical factors in international
trade development has also changed significantly. On the other hand,
inflation in many countries and resulting increases in interest rate
regimes have impacted the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI). Yet,
their direct impact on Viet Nam has not been comprehensively
discussed in the past. It should be clearly recognized that the current
global economic context is so different from that of the pre-pandemic
era, so to that extent it may be too optimistic to think that Viet Nam can
simply “return” to the “pre-pandemic” economic situation with the
recovery of export industries.

How should Viet Nam prepare itself for the post-pandemic era? In
this regard, let us first discuss (i) trade sector issues, and then (ii)
industry sector issues, and finally; (iii) other economic sectors. We also
would like to discuss the need for any specific policy measures.

Other Topics/Questions. We welcome your suggestions for additional

topics/questions relating to Viet Nam’s positioning and preparations for
the “post-pandemic” era.

Critical Rules: "VIOIT Dialogue" will be conducted under the "Chatham House Rules,"
i.e., all the participants are free to benefit from other participants' ideas,
 but under the clear and strict understanding of "anonymity." It will not
be allowed to quote others, and it will be understood that everyone will
be speaking in their personal capacity and not representing any
organization.

Time Limit: To allow active exchange between participants, all the interventions at
"VIOIT Dialogue" will be limited to 5 minutes per intervention, including
keynote speech (es, if any).

Presentation: There will be NO POWERPOINT PRESENTATION at the "VIOIT

Dialogue." All the presentations and background materials will be sent
to the participants in advance (as much as possible) to allow an active
and speedy exchange of ideas.

Language: "VIOIT Dialogue" will be conducted in English. VIOIT staff in its

International Cooperation Team (ICT) will be happy to provide
language support to Vietnamese experts who may need help to
present their ideas in English.

Moderator: Mr. Ayumi Konishi, Senior Advisor to the CEO, Multilateral Cooperation
Center for Development Finance (MCDF)

Record: List of participants, key discussion points (without identifying the

speaker to ensure anonymity), and any background or presentation
materials and written contributions will be put together and circulated to
the participants (it will be posted once VIOIT's Webpage becomes
operational for information dissemination).