“A Trade Capacity-Building Program for the Transition and Development Economies of third world countries: the Vietnam Case”

C2G Consulting, chosen to develop its Global Trade and Investment Management (GTIM) B2B exchange, potentially the largest online electronic trading platform for Vietnam, and the US government’s biggest e-trade promotion initiative in Asia, has proven its ability to bring innovative, web-based and integrated IT software and infrastructure solutions to the market place.

The GTIM Program is fundamentally a knowledge management system, which facilitates the participation of Vietnam businesspersons in an increasingly globalized world economy. It does so by: 1. Developing competency across four core areas of business management; 2. Providing a Web-enabled platform where those competencies can be profitably applied to actual business transactions The GTIM Program proposes to develop such an understanding by linking the training of the aspiring global entrepreneur in four “core” business competencies to immediate applications real business transactions in the global marketplace. The four core competencies of the GTIM Program are four distinct “skill sets” each of which “tracks” a phase of the market development process: gathering market intelligence; engaging in market promotion; identifying market contacts; and the closure of (trade and investment) transactions. To become proficient at navigating the process of global trade and investment, an aspiring global entrepreneur (exporter, importer, or investor) needs to: 1) have access to a well-designed learning vehicle to develop the four core competencies; and, 2) apply what is learned to real situations. The GTIM Program proposes to satisfy both requirements using a three-part Structure with a Database at its core, a Web Portal as its principal delivery “vehicle”, and Business Service Centers as physical venues providing assisted access to the first two. Using the GTIM portal, businesses in Vietnam, already certified by the embassy, can conduct businesses with their global counterparts electronically. The portal provides a complete business platform including initiation, conceptualization, qualification and transactions processing. The GTIM Web portal is a one-stop shop for all the needs of a small to midsize business aspiring to participate successfully in the global trade and investment environment. It delivers a number of other software applications (all online), which would be useful to help it become well managed. For example, from the GTIM Web Portal a Commercial Associate will be able to download highly specific software regarding internal accounting of a corporation, human resource management , customer relationship management, document management, process transactions and receive payment, even correspondence filing. Because of the power of the Web Portals to deliver Web-centric solutions can become an all-around helpmate, inside and outside, to the small to mid-sized aspiring global entrepreneur. More