Indonesia VPA-FLEGT entered into force in 2004 but it has only been passed through the EU Parliament and EU Council recently and Indonesia is planning to issue FLEGT licenses on 15 November at the earliest. Vietnam is going to conclude the negotiation of its VPA to EU later this year so any experiences and lessons learned from Indonesia will help to make its learning curve less stiff. Therefore, Vietnamese business associations and civil society organizations (CSO) are particularly interested in learning about roles of business associations, NGOs and CSOs in future FLEGT VPA implementation in Indonesia. What are the implications for businesses and communities when VPA is implemented and the role of the government and CSOs or business associations in Indonesia in supporting businesses and communities alike?

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SHARING EXPERIENCE ON NEGOTIATIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION IN THE
FLEGT-VPA PROCESS BETWEEN VIETNAM AND INDONESIA
Background
Indonesia VPA-FLEGT entered into force in 2004 but it has only been passed through the EU
Parliament and EU Council recently and Indonesia is planning to issue FLEGT licenses on 15
November at the earliest.
Vietnam is going to conclude the negotiation of its VPA to EU later this year so any experiences
and lessons learned from Indonesia will help to make its learning curve less stiff. Therefore,
Vietnamese business associations and civil society organizations (CSO) are particularly
interested in learning about roles of business associations, NGOs and CSOs in future FLEGT
VPA implementation in Indonesia. What are the implications for businesses and communities
when VPA is implemented and the role of the government and CSOs or business associations in
Indonesia in supporting businesses and communities alike?
In this exchange, we would like to focus on discussions on the roles of business associations,
NGOs and CSOs during negotiations and development of specific annexes of the VPA, design of
FLEGT licensing system and future monitoring to ensure its accountability and transparency in
Indonesia. The proposed time frame is two days, including a field trip to Vietnamese timber
businesses, a half day of roundtable discussions with business associations and CSOs and follow-
up discussions with selected NGOs/CSOs who are working on FLEGT related projects to discuss
what they have learned from Indonesian experience and implications in Vietnam and what can be
leveraged from the ongoing projects/ plans.
CED with the support from GIZ will host for ½ day focus discussions as mentioned above.
The workshop aims at:
- Updates on VPA FLEGT process in Vietnam (information sharing and discussions)
- Updates and sharing lessons from Indonesia (informal sharing and discussions)
- Discussions and Q& A (focus on questions from Vietnamese participants, sharing the
work of other regional institutions that both countries can leverage in the future).
Indonesian Participants:
1. Mrs. Mariana Lubis, Deputy Director Notification of Export and Import of Industrial
Forest Products, Director General of Sustainable Management of Forest Production,
Ministry of Environment and Forestry

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2. Dr. AgusSarsito, Chief negotiator Indonesia FLEGT-VPA, Senior Adviser on FLEGT
VPA, Multi-stakeholder Forestry Programme Indonesia
3. Dr. AgusSuratno, Senior Advisor on Forestry and Climate Change, GIZ-ASEAN German
Program on Forestry and Climate Change (FOR-CC)
4. Mrs. LailyMaulidya, Director and Owner of Famous International Furniture,
5. Mrs. EtikSunarwati, Director and Owner of MellaKreasi Furniture
Vietnamese Participants: Approximately 30 representatives from private sectors (Timber
associations, timber businesses ...), CSOs, NGOs, stakeholders (Forest rangers, local customs,
journalists…)
Time: October 18th, 2016 in Hanoi
Funding: GIZ
Time: 8:00 to 12:00 AM, Tuesday, October 18 2016
Venue: Pullman Hotel, 40 Cat Linh, Ba Dinh, Ha Noi
Time Activities Responsible
8:00-8:30 Welcoming participants CED
8:30-8:40 Introduction of the purposes of the meeting and
participants
CED
8:40-9:00 Civil society and private sector engagement in
VPA-FLEGT
CED
9:00-9:30 Share in VPA-FLEGT process in Vietnam – key
issues and plans forward
VNFOREST (TBC)
9:30-10:00 Share on Indonesia VPA process (based on further
inputs from CED)
Indonesia Participants
10:00-10:15 Tea break
10:15-10:45 Q&A All participants
10:45-11:00 Indonesia design FLEGT licensing system and its
independent future monitoring mechanisms
Indo
11:00-11:30 Q&A All participants
11:30-12:00 Conclusion and closing remarks CED
12:00-13:30 Lunch At Pullman