Seminar talks cross-border subsidies as trade barriers rise

Seminar talks cross-border subsidies as trade barriers rise

The Permanent Mission of Việt Nam in Geneva and Hà Nội-based Foreign Trade University signed a memorandum of understanding to support the university’s participation in the WTO Chairs Programme.

Delegates at the event. — VNA/VNS Photo

The Permanent Mission of Việt Nam in Geneva teamed up with Hà Nội-based Foreign Trade University (FTU) on May 26 to host a hybrid seminar on cross-border subsidies and their implications for Việt Nam, offering lecturers and students hands-on exposure to key issues in international trade policy.

The event connected Vietnamese academic establishments with Geneva-based trade, investment and legal specialists. Leveraging an extensive network of international trade lawyers and World Trade Organisation rule experts, the mission has worked closely with domestic agencies and schools to update professional knowledge and deliver practical, global perspectives on major trade issues.

The seminar came as Việt Nam’s largest trade partners increasingly adopt protectionist measures and trade remedies with novel features such as cross-border subsidies, which carry direct consequences for Vietnamese exporters and companies.

Recognising the stakes, the mission brought in Manuel Miranda, head of Deminimis Law and an international trade law specialist who sits on advisory bodies linked to the WTO and the Advisory Centre on WTO Law, to address the event.

Discussions centred on the WTO legal framework, enforcement practices across member states and practical legal challenges arising from landmark trade disputes. Miranda stressed that governments and businesses must build flexible response strategies to navigate changing trade policies among key partners. Students raised questions on how firms can adapt, minimise legal risks and effectively leverage trade agreements in an era of deepening globalisation.

In 2022, FTU made its mark as the only Vietnamese institution selected for the WTO Chairs Programme for 2022–26, designed to enhance trade-related expertise in universities and research institutes across developing nations.

On the occasion, the mission and FTU signed a memorandum of understanding to support the university’s participation in the WTO Chairs Programme. The mission said it would continue to support FTU and other Vietnamese establishments through professional exchanges and international networking. 

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