Ambassador Lê Thị Tuyết Mai, Permanent Representative of Việt Nam to the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and other international organisations in Geneva, addresses the 57th session of the International Trade Centre (ITC). — VNA/VNS Photo

GENEVA — A Vietnamese diplomat has highlighted the country’s wish to enhance cooperation with the Geneva-based International Trade Centre (ITC).

Speaking at the 57th session of the ITC’s Joint Advisory Group, Ambassador Lê Thị Tuyết Mai, Permanent Representative of Việt Nam to the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and other international organisations in Geneva, highly valued the ITC’s past assistance for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), especially for their digital transformation, green transition and access to foreign markets, along with its trade facilitation.

Việt Nam hopes to strengthen ties with the ITC in the future on the basis of its trade and development achievements obtained during the transformation from an underdeveloped country into a lower-middle-income one, she went on.

The country is working hard to implement the climate change response strategy and shift to a circular economy, she said, noting that green growth is not only an inevitable choice but also an opportunity for Việt Nam to keep up with the global development trend and reach the target of net zero emissions by 2050.

Việt Nam and other countries’ participation in the new ITC project “Climate competitiveness: Building opportunities in the green economy for emerging and developing countries”, funded by the European Union for 2023-2026, will create favourable conditions for them to capitalise on assistance during the adjustment of policies and trade practices in adaptation to climate change, and discuss trade and environmental issues at WTO to boost trade and sustainable development.

As an active ITC member since 2007, Việt Nam sincerely appreciates contributions by the ITC and other sponsors to the technical support and capacity-building projects for its MSMEs, Mai noted, applauding the development of the Việt Nam-ITC partnership as seen in some pilot projects of the centre.

The hybrid 57th session of the ITC’s Joint Advisory Group reviewed the centre’s performance in 2022 and gave recommendations for its activities in the time ahead.

ITC Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton said the centre disbursed more than US$150 million for projects in 130 countries last year, the highest-ever sum. ITC-funded projects helped over 27,000 small businesses, including 10,000 women-led ones, improve their competitiveness.

At a meeting with Ambassador Mai prior to the session, Coke-Hamilton described Việt Nam as an excellent partner of the ITC during the implementation of this centre’s projects in Southeast Asia.

The country is accessing some ITC-financed programmes and projects to improve export competitiveness and trade promotion capacity of MSMEs. In Việt Nam, the centre is running nine projects, the biggest among ASEAN members. — VNS