The first meeting of VERN Selection Committee was held at the Institute of Economics on 17 February 2003, from 8:30-11:30AM. The Selection Committee was established by Decision 01/QT-KTH dated 11 February 2003 by the Director of the Institute of Economics Prof. Dr. Do Hoai Nam. The Selection Committee comprises of the following:

1. Ha Thuy Thanh, Vice-Director of the Institute of Economics, Chairman
2. Remco Oostendorp, The Free University of Amsterdam, VERN academic advisor, member
3. John Cockburn, The Laval University, VERN academic advisor, member
4. Martin Rama, the World Bank in Vietnam, member
5. Evan Due, IDRC Singapore, member
6. Vu Thieu, Hanoi National Economics University, member
7. Nguyen Danh Son, the Ministry of Science and Technology, member
8. Vu Quoc Huy, National Economics University, member
9. Nguyen Thang, Institute of Economics, secretary (with no voting power).

Mr. Martin Rama was not present in the meeting because of some important commitments. But he sent detailed written comments with specific grades to the Committee in advance. Other eight members attended the whole meeting. Six voting members (out of eight) sent their marks given to proposals. Four written comments on proposals were received.

The meeting was started by the Chairman followed by Evan Due who introduced himself to the Committee. Then the four objectives of VERN were briefly mentioned, which were used to guide the Committee in the discussion and selection process. Then the Committee discussed general rules of selection to make it both objective and effective. It was agreed that every effort would be made to reach the consensus among members. In case it could not be reached, the decision would be left to Dr. Do Hoai Nam, the Project Director. It was also agreed that the Selection Committee would recommend to the Project Director no less than 9 (nine) ideas and no more than 11 (eleven) ideas. Then, discussion evolved around the question of what is the best way of doing so. It was then agreed that the selection would start with proposals that receive the largest number of votes (the "Yes"), down to the one that fully fills in the quota (between nine and eleven). For each proposal under discussion, members who say "No" were asked to present arguments. Then others made comments until the consensus was reached.

Following this procedure, the Selection Committee came up with the following list of research ideas that the Committee recommends to the Project Director for the final decision. These ideas are classified into four groups that are abbreviated as the order in the list of 33 research ideas compiled by VERN office and put in the descending order of priorities:

• Idea 13: Trade Liberalization and Non-farm Household Enterprises in Vietnam: Challenges or Opportunities ahead?

• Idea 6: From Productivity to Competitiveness: Three Essays on How

Competitive Edge of Vietnam’s Textiles and Garments Firms Can Be Improved

• Idea 9/34: Measuring Effects of Trade Liberalization on the Labor Market in Vietnam / Employment and wage effects of trade reform: The case of Vietnam manufacturing (teams working on similar ideas 9 and 34 are asked to be merged into one),

• Idea 26: Export Competitiveness of Vietnam, China, and members of ASEAN in US and Japan Markets

• Idea 1: Trade Liberalization and Employment in Agricultural Sector - The Case of Central Provinces, Vietnam

• Idea 12: Influence of maize free trade to this commodity chain and Vietnam animal husbandry

• Idea 8: The global software battlefield: How can Vietnam David stand up to China Goliath

• Idea 23: Identifying factors affecting competitiveness of HCMC-based textiles and garments private enterprises in economic integration process (case study of Hochiminh city)

• Idea 28: A Quantitative Analysis of the Cost of Protection in Vietnam

• Idea 29: Trade Liberalization and Its effect to employment in agricultural – rural area of Vietnam

• Idea 31: Study on competitiveness of supporting industries in Vietnam

It was agreed that the Project Director choose one out of three in group B/C. It was also recommended that the team with idea 23 should explore the possibility of working on other sectors to avoid overlap with teams working on the textiles and garments sectors. All teams are encouraged to make the proposal more focused in terms of methodology and policy issues.

With regards to teams that are not selected for the second round, the VERN office will send a letter to announce and briefly discuss the results in such a way that encourages them to apply for other research call and continue to actively participate in future work of VERN.

This minute was endorsed by all participants of this meeting of the Selection Committee.

Date: 17 February 2003

On behalf of the Selection Committee

Chairman