Lang Son
Provincial performance in implementing free trade agreements
Overview of the result
Lang Son scored 15.16 out of 40, placing it in the “Average” tier and ranking 29th of 34 provinces and cities. Despite its role as a major trade gateway to the Chinese market, the province still sits in the bottom third on FTA implementation. Market information is the standout bright spot, with export forecasting and market-orientation information ranking 8th and the quality of FTA-related events ranking 12th, fitting for a border-trade hub. The institutional support base, however, remains weak — above all in sustainable development, the province's most urgent gap, where the quality of business support ranks last in the country.
Detailed analysis by component index
Lang Son's results are sharply uneven. Export forecasting and market-orientation information (A8) ranks 8th and the quality of FTA-related events (A7) ranks 12th. The quality of information on the local online portal (A9), however, ranks only 30th, knowledge of FTAs (A1) ranks 29th and sources of information on FTA-related events (A6) rank 27th. Firms can therefore reach market information reasonably well, but the FTA dissemination system still lacks coverage and does not serve all firm groups evenly.
Mass media and social networks are the two main routes in. Large firms look mainly to web portals, while small firms attend conferences and seminars more often. Only about a third of firms say information from central or local agencies meets most or all of their needs; local information rates only marginally better than central, at 35.8% against 33.6%. Participation in FTA-related events is also limited: just 40.4% of firms attend even occasionally, while 47.7% never attend at all. Small and private domestic firms generally rate things lower than large and FDI firms, indicating that information is not tailored to each group's needs and absorptive capacity.
Lang Son shows a fairly comprehensive weakness in helping firms implement the FTA legal documents. Understanding of those documents (B1) ranks 30th, frequency of guidance (B2) ranks 27th, while the quality of guidance (B3) and participation in training (B5) both rank 26th. Uptake of enterprise feedback by local authorities (B7, 22nd) and complexity of compliance (B4, 25th) fare slightly better but remain in the bottom half of the table. Firms are not equipped with the knowledge and guidance they need to apply the FTA rules with confidence.
Only about 15–18% of firms have a clear grasp of the main legal areas, while 60–70% hold a basic understanding or none at all; medium-sized firms score lowest. The share receiving guidance frequently or very frequently runs at just 20–25%, highest for TBT (27.6%) and lowest for tariff preferences (16.4%) — even though that is the most widely used commitment. Guidance quality rates best in tax, customs and investment (46.1%), followed by labour (42.1%); the remaining areas reach only around 27–33%. Meanwhile some 57–64% of firms consider the rules complex, TBT and intellectual property above all.
Lang Son comes close to the national average on FTA utilisation activities (C3, 17th) and the FTA commitments utilised (C4, 20th), but lags on the support environment. Barriers to FTA utilisation (C5) rank 28th, participation in trade promotion (C9.1) ranks 27th and access to competitiveness support policies (C6) ranks 25th. Firms therefore maintain a degree of FTA utilisation even though the support ecosystem is not developed enough to widen its reach or raise its effectiveness.
FTA utilisation concentrates on the traditional market-access commitments: tariff preferences (73.5%), rules of origin (62.6%) and trade facilitation (48.4%). More than half of firms lack information on FTA markets or do not clearly understand the commitments, while about a third struggle to reach partners; these constraints are sharpest among medium-sized firms. Local competitiveness programmes draw only about 24–39% positive ratings. Large firms rate them better, particularly support for connection with foreign firms, brand-building and access to finance, each at 80% positive. Support policy therefore benefits large and FDI firms considerably more than small, medium-sized and private domestic ones.
This is Lang Son's weakest pillar and its most urgent policy gap. The forms of support available to help enterprises meet sustainable development requirements (D6) ranks last, 34th; support from local authorities (D4) and the perceived importance of complying with import-market sustainable development commitments (D5) both rank 33rd. Understanding of the commitments (D1, 23rd) and readiness to comply (D3, 22nd) fare less badly but remain low. The gap matters especially for a border province whose firms target EVFTA and CPTPP markets, where environmental and sustainability standards keep tightening.
Firms understand the traditional commitments better than the newer international requirements. About 39–43% have some understanding of labour, environment, biodiversity, and marine and forest protection, but fewer than 22% understand CSDDD, CBAM or the circular economy. Only around 8–13% see the sustainability requirements as having a major effect on their business. Local support also reaches firms unevenly: just 31–37% rate it effective, while in some areas up to 40% report receiving none at all. The most worrying gap is among medium-sized firms, where 50–57% report no support in the main areas.