A five-day training on “Capacity Building for Business Membership Organization (BMO) for Coffee Sector in Quang Tri, Vietnam” was held from January 25 -29, 2016 by the Trade and Investment Facilitation (TIF) Department of Mekong Institute (MI) in collaboration of MI’s EWEC project, which is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). A total of fourteen participants representing the Offices of Agricultural Extension, Plant Protection, SNV-EMEE project, KCA members, and coffee companies as well as farmer groups attended the training. 

The training aimed to strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of KCA with a focus on management and operations, as well as value-adding services to be provided to its members. The training covered a broad range of important topics. These included BMO’s strategic management and planning, strategic financial management, BMO’s roles in SME cluster development, as well as supporting and promoting members and income generating services for sustainability. Furthermore, the designing of action plans and their monitoring and evaluation were topics of the training. 

To apply the gained knowledge and skills from the in-class training, the participants were guided in preparing the action plan and its implementation as an integral part of the modular training. As an outcome, the participants have designed an Action Plan on Reviewing Functions and Responsibilities of KCA Management and Inspection Boards, and Development of KCA Action Plan 2016, which is scheduled for implementation on February 27-28, 2016.