Vietnam to enhance competitiveness of logistics industry

Chu Lai - Trường Hải Port, Quảng Nam province. — VNA/VNS Photo Nguyễn Sơn

Việt Nam will focus on enhancing the competitiveness of the logistics industry and make it a high-added value services sector to promote socio-economic development, according to the Government’s Decree No 163/NQ-CP issued late last week.

According to Trần Thanh Hải, Deputy Director of the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the logistics industry of Việt Nam had large potential for development, given the heavy investments in infrastructure systems including building and expanding expressways, airports, seaports, and logistics centres.

The heavy investment in infrastructure development was creating significant opportunities for logistics enterprises, Hải said.

In addition, Việt Nam’s production and trade was recovering quickly with the country’s import-export revenue hitting a new record of US$700 billion this year.

Hải, however, noted that 2023 would be a difficult year because the global economy was in a recession coupled with high inflationary risk, which would lead to a decrease in trade activities as well as logistics activities.

He urged enterprises to prepare for uncertainties in the context of the ongoing Russia – Ukraine conflict, natural disasters, diseases, or unexpected incidents.

To promote the development of the logistics industry, the focus would be placed on promoting the logistics industry development with production, import and export activities. The drivers would come from the transportation and information technology infrastructure development, enhancing the competitiveness of logistics services companies and increasing linkages to make Việt Nam an important logistics hub of the region.

It was also necessary to establish sustainable supply chains, improve the quality of human resources and promote digital transformation and technology application in the logistics industry.

In addition, the policies of taxes and fees would be reviewed while customs procedures would be further simplified to create favourable conditions for logistics services providers.

Green logistics

The resolution also aimed to promote the development of green logistics.

Green logistics was arising to be a trend and an important indicator for the sustainable development of the logistics industry.

A report by the Ministry of Industry and Trade found that only 31 per cent of logistics enterprises used renewable energy in warehouses operation, 26.8 per cent did not have green development strategies and 35.2 per cent did not have activities related to environmental monitoring.

According to Trịnh Thị Thu Hương, Deputy Director of the School of Economics and International Business, the Government should consider building a strategy and planning for green logistics to 2030 with a vision to 2050, in which, the digital transformation should be sped up, infrastructure quality increased and conditions for multimodal transport improved.

Policies should also be raised to encourage small and medium – sized enterprises to switch to green logistics and use renewable energy, she said.