Khon Kaen – Mekong Institute (MI) conducted a one-week regional training on “Trade Events Promotion” from June 12-16, 2017 at its residential training center, Khon Kaen, Thailand. The training program is part of the project on “Enhancing Competiveness of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the Southern Economic Corridor (SEC) of ASEAN Mekong Subregion (AMS),” funded by Japan – ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF).
The training program aimed to build capacity for the public and private Trade Promotion Organizations (TPOs) in the SEC through (i) enhancing the understanding of their important role in the trade and investment facilitation and promotion; (ii) developing skills and tools for organizing various trade events; (iii) strengthening skills in planning and conducting effective trade events and monitoring the success of the event; and (iv) expanding collaborative networks among the TPOs and SMEs in order to promote cross-border trade and investment in the SEC.
A total of 35 participants attended the training program, representing public and private TPOs and SMEs from 19 provinces along the SEC in CMTV. They included Department of SME Development; Provincial Business Association; Provincial Community Development Office; Provincial Cooperative Promotion Office; Provincial Department of Commerce; Provincial Department of Industry and Handicrafts; Provincial Department of Industry and Trade; Provincial Trade Promotion Center; Dawei SME Association; Federation of Associations for SMEs of Cambodia (FASMEC); Provincial Chamber of Commerce; and Pracharat Raksamakki Prachinburi. The training program contents covered interrelated modules on Cross-Border Trade and Investment in the SEC, Promotion of Cross-Border Trade and Investment in the SEC, and Planning and Management of Effective Event for Trade and Business Development.
Practical knowledge and experience in trade promotion and trade event implementation, including planning and management, were comprehensively delivered to all the participants. The training also helped the participants familiarize themselves with how to organize and evaluate the success of trade events. A mock trade fair and business matching event was also organized.
For the purpose of “Do to Learn” in practice, the participants jointly developed Action Plans (APs) on organizing the trade events at border provinces along the SEC which are (i) Dawei – Thailand Trade Mission; (ii) Thailand – Cambodia Trade Fair; (iii) Cambodia – Vietnam Business Matching 2017; and (iv) Cambodia – Vietnam Business Matching. APs will be implemented during July – October 2017 with the support and assistance by the team of Trade and Investment Facilitation (TIF) Department, and report on the AP implementation results at the Synthesis and Evaluation (S&E) Workshop at MI which is scheduled in October 2017, respectively.
During the training program, the preliminary research results on the cross-border value chain bottlenecks, and emerging opportunities and initiatives to promote cross-border trade and investment in the SEC were also discussed.
