Mirror Study of Vietnam’s International Merchandise Trade: Findings and Implications on Cross-Border Trade Administration

SECO Working Paper 26/2017 by Phan Thi Thu Hien and Nguyen Viet Hung

ABSTRACT: This paper applies a variety of “mirror statistics” initiatives, practices and experiences of many internationals organizations like United Nations, World Trade Organization, World Customs Organization, and national customs administrations in the world as well as cross-border trade-related findings from mirror analyses of Vietnam in 2010-2016. This paper is intended to answer three main questions: (1) what are the substantial reasons of discrepancies in cross-border trade data from mirror analyses of Vietnam in 2010-2016? (2) How to harmonize and standardize “mirror statistics” in cross-border trade administration of Vietnam? And (3) How to produce an effective model of “mirror statistics” analysis for cross -border trade administration of Vietnam in future?