CUTS International to open 4th overseas office in Vietnam

CUTS International, the Jaipur-based non-profit organisation operating in the fields of research, advocacy and networking public interest, is opening its fourth overseas centre in Hanoi in Vietnam this month.

Its first overseas centre was established in Lusaka (Zambia) in 2000, followed by two centres in Nairobi in 2002 and London in 2003.

The purpose of these overseas offices is to promote trilateral development cooperation on a range of trade and economic policy issues, considering the fact that India has excellent diplomatic and commercial relations with these countries.

These offices also network with many NGOs in the regions other than government agencies.

CUTS is currently engaged in many international projects covering these countries. One of such projects looks closely at the impact of trade liberalisation on development and poverty (TDP project). It is being implemented over four years (2005-08) in 15 countries of Asia and Africa, UK and the Netherlands.

The TDP project examines whether trade liberalisation results in development or not, an issue, which is currently being debated at the WTO.

The results show an intersting mix of what people's perceptions are on such contentious issues and the concomitant lack of the government's communication strategy to deal with the half truths and the untruths.

One of CUTS's forte is to promote trilateral development and cooperation, which means that a donor country supports CUTS to implement capacity building projects in developing countries. It has done many projects on trade, investment, and competition law and policy in Africa and Asia.

"The training rendered by CUTS in March, 2006 was extremely useful to us and it was the benchmark for implementing the competition law of Ethiopia", writes Wogayehu Gebre Hanna, the Head, Domestic Trade Deptt of the Ethiopian Trade Practice Investigation Commission.

The CUTS Hanoi Centre will be campaigning on a project to build consumer awareness in the Mekong Region countries of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

The Department for International Development (DFID) office in Vietnam is negotiating a project on how to make markets work for the poor in Vietnam.

CUTS will be providing technical assistance to the Vietnamese Competition Authority over a period of two years, starting 2007, with support from the government of Switzerland.