Vietnam became the 150th member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in November 2006. with WTO commitments, there will be opportunities and potential adverse impacts on access to rural credit and financial service. The poor are probably only small participants in the boom, but will often suffer significantly in the bust. Several previous researches indicated that domestic financial liberalization, through giving up control of interest rates and removing credit subsidies, has not translated into high level of savings, but decreased access of the poor to rural credit. The study on “Study on Possible Impacts of Post WTO Accession on Microfinance and Access to Rural Credit of the Poor in Vietnam ” aims to assess the opportunities and probable effects of trade liberalization on financial services for the poor in Vietnam. The scope of the study will highlight the accessibility of financial services for the vulnerable poor while analysing the opportunities, challenges and possible risks in the context of WTO accession. The legal framework in connection with the financial services and MFIs in Vietnam will be also reviewed to draw the possible policy gaps. Under the ActionAid Vietnam support and the fund from Italy, the study will be used as advocacy work for pro-poor policies and monitoring the possible impact of economic integration, post WTO accession.

CDI is undertaken the study with literature review and field study in Quang Ninh, Son La, Ninh Thuan provinces and to work with M7 (Microfinance Group) www.m7group.org .

Final Report is under processing, but the brief presentation for further comments and participation is attached >>

On April 1st 2009, Vietnamese Lawyer Association and the Center for Development and Integration jointly organized the workshop “Improving the Women’s Rights and Family Violences Prevention” in Yen Bai.

The seminar “Impacts on Economy, Employment and Poverty Reduction 2 years after Vietnam’s WTO accession” is coorganized by the Center for Development and Integration and Vietnam Asian Pacific Economic Center under the project Trade, Development and Povderty Reduction donored by CUTS CITEE (from India) on November 11, 2008.