Through the USAID Trade Facilitation Program, USAID is helping Vietnam Customs develop their e-learning capabilities with a goal of shifting training for their officials and the private sector to online and blended methods. In the long-term, Vietnam Customs aims for VCS to be a premier Customs training center in the Indo-Pacific. From December 14-18, the USAID Trade Facilitation Program and VCS held two Training-of-Trainers workshops in Danang for VCS instructors on e-learning course development, including practice using their e-Learning Management System.

VCS utilizes instructors who are customs officers from various Vietnam Customs departments and local customs departments across Vietnam to infuse curricula with practical experience. The first class consisted of 17 trainers (5 male and 12 female) from VCS’s Technical Customs Faculty, while 23 trainers (11 male and 12 female) from VCS’s General Knowledge Faculty were in the second class. Through the workshop, trainers gained insight into pedagogical design and content delivery for e-learning lessons and courses, ranging from developing storyboards, to voice and video recording. In FY21, VCS will develop six e-learning courses on basic customs procedures and USAID will support another 10 courses on selective trade facilitation topics.

So What? With support from USAID, Vietnam Customs is well on its way to developing a sustainable and effective e-learning system, which will improve the capacity of officials to bolster Vietnam's financing self-reliance.