Thai Nguyen
Provincial performance in implementing free trade agreements
Overview of the result
Thai Nguyen scored 26.72 out of 40, placing it in the “Fair” tier and ranking 7th of 34 provinces and cities. As one of the country's major electronics manufacturing and FDI hubs, the province places in the top 8 on three pillars: information access (4th), legal implementation (6th) and sustainable development (7th). That reflects a reasonably comprehensive communication and legal support system, delivered effectively and reaching many firm groups. Notably, small and private domestic firms take part in FTA communication activity more actively than large and FDI firms, so information is not confined to those with the greatest scale and resources. The main weakness lies in the support policy pillar (20th): firms rate the programmes highly once they reach them, but still face substantial barriers and difficulty getting into the support system at all.
Detailed analysis by component index
Thai Nguyen scores high and fairly evenly across the information indicators. The quality of information supplied relative to business needs (A4), sources of information on FTA-related events (A6), and the quality of FTA-related information on the local online portal (A9) all rank 7th. FTA-related information provided by the authorities (A2) and the channels through which enterprises access information on FTAs (A3) both rank 8th; the quality of FTA-related events (A7) ranks 9th, and forecasting and market-orientation information from local authorities (A8) ranks 11th. The system therefore combines wide coverage with information that is reasonably useful and well matched to business needs.
Among the channels, the press reaches 81.4% of firms and conferences and seminars 75.7%, while web portals and social media each reach at least 70%. Training reaches more than half of firms, though large firms attend less than medium-sized ones. Some 72.1% of firms attend FTA events at least occasionally and 14.7% attend regularly. Local government notices are an important source of event information, reaching 65.7% of firms. Large and FDI firms nonetheless participate less actively than medium-sized and private domestic ones, leaving room to tailor the communication formats by firm group.
Thai Nguyen's strength lies in legal guidance and accompaniment. The uptake of enterprise feedback by local authorities (B7) ranks 6th, the quality of guidance on legal documents (B3) ranks 7th and the frequency of that guidance (B2) ranks 8th. Understanding of legal documents (B1), participation in training on legal documents (B5) and enterprise feedback on FTA-related legal documents (B6) all rank 10th. Complexity of compliance (B4) ranks 18th, the only indicator closer to the national average.
Despite the high ranks, understanding varies considerably by area. About 63–65% of firms have a clear grasp of tariff preferences and rules of origin, but the share falls to 22.4% for SPS, 29.4% for environmental rules, 30.9% for TBT and 36.8% for intellectual property. Some 60–70% of firms still find the rules on tariffs, origin, SPS, TBT, intellectual property and trade remedies complex. The knowledge gap is most striking among large and FDI firms, particularly on labour and environmental requirements.
Thai Nguyen has built some good-quality support programmes. The effectiveness of support policies and programmes implemented by local authorities (C7) ranks 9th, the need for FTA support programmes and policies (C8) ranks 10th, and FTA utilisation activities (C3) and the quality of trade promotion (C9.2) both rank 12th. Barriers to FTA utilisation (C5), however, rank only 33rd, and access to competitiveness support policies (C6) ranks 20th. Policy therefore works when firms can reach it, but its coverage and its ability to clear obstacles do not match the quality of delivery.
FTA utilisation concentrates on the traditional commitments: tariff preferences (91.4%) and rules of origin (84.3%). Other commitments are barely exploited — not one firm reports using SPS, and TBT reaches just 4.3%. On difficulties, firms cite reaching partners as the biggest (38.6%), followed by a lack of market information (27.1%), limited understanding of the commitments and problems with rules of origin (25.7% each). Competitiveness programmes draw roughly 54–69% positive ratings, with training and business matching performing best. Technology support, however, delivers less for large firms.
Sustainable development is one of Thai Nguyen's standout pillars. Enterprises' understanding of the sustainable development commitments (D1) and the effectiveness of support from local authorities (D4) both rank 6th. That is an important base for electronics and FDI firms facing ever tighter labour, environmental and supply-chain due-diligence requirements in EVFTA and CPTPP markets.
About 65–67% of firms understand the labour and environmental commitments, but the share falls to 32–45% for biodiversity, CITES sustainable forest management, EUDR, CSDDD, CBAM and the circular economy. Labour, environmental and green-standard requirements are judged to have a large business impact by 36–39% of firms; the figure is only 12–18% for the other specialised areas. Around three-quarters of firms have begun preparing for the labour and environmental requirements, while 61–62% have prepared for public participation and green standards. Readiness remains lower for CSDDD, CBAM and the circular economy, especially among large firms.