On September 11th, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade, in collaboration with Tuoi Tre newspaper, organized a seminar titled "Developing Trade and Logistics in Ho Chi Minh City." Many experts and businesses unanimously agreed that logistics costs, currently accounting for 17% of product prices, are "too high" and have become a major barrier to competition.
How can businesses cope with logistics costs rising by as much as 17%?
Mr. Nguyen Nguyen Phuong, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade, believes it's time to focus on addressing this issue at its root. "A 17% logistics cost is unacceptable. Businesses have been struggling for years, and now they're exhausted. If this isn't resolved, we can't expect a breakthrough," Mr. Phuong said.
Logistics costs, reaching up to 17% of the product price, are a burden for businesses in Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: Tran Manh).
Mr. Phuong likened Ho Chi Minh City to a machine with high power but an engine that only delivers half the output. After the merger, the power doubled, but the belt remained old and couldn't pull it up. If the organizational structure doesn't change, efficiency will remain low. "This shows that logistics is both a bottleneck and an opportunity for the new Ho Chi Minh City. The important thing is that we correctly identify and act promptly," he shared.
According to him, to quickly and thoroughly resolve the logistics bottlenecks, it must start from the businesses and the people themselves. Ho Chi Minh City needs to establish a special task force or logistics working group with the participation of experts, associations, businesses, and relevant departments. This group will review bottlenecks, listen to feedback from businesses, and then propose priorities and breakthrough solutions to the city's leaders for early resolution.
Planning the Ho Chi Minh City logistics network by function
Mr. Cao Hong Phong, Deputy General Director of Gemalink, commented that the advantages of Ho Chi Minh City's new spatial layout are undeniable. In fact, the fact that the three localities – Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong , and Ba Ria-Vung Tau – have different starting points and orientations is precisely the advantage for the newly merged Ho Chi Minh City, providing an opportunity to re-plan and redistribute new functional zones, including logistics.
Specifically, according to Mr. Phong, logistics can be divided into two segments: domestic and export. The former Ho Chi Minh City focuses on developing domestic trade and services, meaning addressing policy issues, investing in equipment, and connecting infrastructure for domestic production, business, trade, and retail. Binh Duong focuses on manufacturing goods. Meanwhile, the Ba Ria - Vung Tau area, especially the Cai Mep - Thi Vai port area, will focus on export logistics activities.
Guests participate in discussions at the seminar "Developing Trade and Logistics in Ho Chi Minh City" (Photo: Tran Manh).
Besides planning logistics to suit the post-merger context, Mr. Phong also suggested that the management of export activities needs to change accordingly. He proposed that all activities related to exports should be centralized, including customs, goods inspection, and quality analysis, to avoid wasting time and costs for businesses.
"It's impossible to be efficient and reduce costs if businesses still have to send samples or documents back to Ho Chi Minh City for processing at Cai Mep, which takes 2-3 days as before. Ho Chi Minh City should only have one border gate name for all import and export gates at the ports to save logistics and operating costs for businesses," Mr. Phong stated.
Mr. Phong also argued that government planning and business development orientation should shift to a collaborative mindset, with each unit focusing on a specialized area and maximizing its own advantages, thereby reducing overall costs instead of one unit investing in every aspect.
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Business Association, noted that Ho Chi Minh City, already strong in trade, services, and a significant portion of high-tech manufacturing, will now merge with Binh Duong, the "capital" of mass production, and Ba Ria - Vung Tau, a center for seaports, oil and gas, and logistics, creating a combined advantage for exports. Currently, many factories and projects are located in Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau, but the businesses are based in Ho Chi Minh City. Therefore, a synchronized mechanism and policy are needed to maximize their potential.
Mr. Hoa stated that Resolution 98 was a "boost" as it allowed Ho Chi Minh City to expand its stimulus loan programs to include Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau (formerly), supporting many sectors such as mechanics, electrical and electronics, green transformation, digital transformation, and logistics.
The city has established specialized task forces, which have so far reviewed 18 projects with a total capital of over 1,500 billion VND, including 3 projects from Binh Duong, most notably the waste-to-energy project.
Developing waterway transportation to reduce costs.
Mr. Le Van Danh, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade, also stated that the logistics costs, which amount to 17% of the product price as reported by businesses, are indeed very high and are a bottleneck for the development of Ho Chi Minh City.
"As soon as I took up my new position in Ho Chi Minh City, I established a 'trade and logistics team' to listen to businesses and experts propose policies to address these difficulties, and then submit policy recommendations to higher levels," Mr. Danh shared at the seminar.
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade is also working with relevant units to consider using waterways to transport goods from Ho Chi Minh City and the former Binh Duong province to Cai Mep port. This would both take advantage of the region's waterways and reduce the logistical burden on the road transport system.
Meanwhile, domestic logistics require centers that connect retail distribution points to reduce time and costs.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/logistics-chiem-17-gia-thanh-tphcm-lap-doi-phan-ung-nhanh-de-xu-ly-20250912081957512.htm
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