(kontumtv.vn) – To realize the goal of making Vietnam a strong country in logistics, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is submitting to the Prime Minister a draft Strategy for developing Vietnam's logistics services for the period 2025 - 2035, with a vision to 2050.

Photo caption
Container warehouse at Cat Lai Port, Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City. Illustration photo: Hong Dat/VNA

In particular, the companionship of the Party, the State and the determination of enterprises are expected to bring the Vietnamese logistics industry confidently into a new era, an era of national growth.

According to the assessment of the Vietnam Logistics Services Association (VLA), the growth rate of the logistics industry in Vietnam in recent years has reached about 14-16%, with a scale of about 40-42 billion USD/year and is one of the fastest and most stable growing service industries. Notably, Vietnam currently ranks 43rd out of 155 countries in terms of logistics efficiency and is among the top 5 countries in ASEAN.

According to the latest forecast by Standard Chartered, Vietnam will be one of the main contributors to global trade growth with export turnover expected to reach 618 billion USD by 2030, with an annual growth rate of 7%. Import turnover by 2030 is expected to reach 578 billion USD, increasing by an average of 6.9%/year. This affirms the important multi-dimensional role with direct and indirect impacts of the logistics service industry on import and export turnover.

Affirming that logistics paves the way for trade and production, Mr. Tran Thanh Hai - Deputy Director of the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) emphasized: Vietnam has many favorable factors that can create momentum for the development of the logistics sector; in which, the Vietnamese logistics service industry will be a strategic factor to boost economic growth in general and promote import-export activities in particular. Moreover, the explosion of e-commerce will be the driving force for the development of the logistics service industry because although transactions are conducted on the Internet environment, logistics services are an indispensable link to complete orders and transactions.

According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hung - Head of Logistics for E-commerce - Vietnam Logistics Service Association (VLA), many Vietnamese enterprises have built and developed their own information technology to adapt and connect with foreign enterprises. This helps enterprises adapt and share data faster between platform providers as well as logistics enterprises with each other.

Mr. Nguyen Dac Thang - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hoa Phat Logistics shared: Hoa Phat Logistics has officially announced the operation of the transportation management software system. This is also one of the important strategies to implement the development plan for the period 2024-2026, towards the long-term goal of Hoa Phat Logistics to 2030, while promoting the goal of green development and sustainable development.

Recently, Vinh Phuc ICD Logistics Center – Vietnam SuperPortTM and Vietnam Post Corporation (Vietnam Post) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate in developing a customized platform to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to export goods to Asian markets. This initiative helps SMEs access comprehensive logistics solutions; in which, Vietnam SuperPort plays the role of a multimodal distribution center supported by an e-commerce platform. The first phase of the project will be piloted for businesses in Vinh Phuc province to export goods to Singapore, then it will be expanded to other provinces and cities nationwide and to other Asian markets.

According to Mr. Nguyen Truong Giang, Head of the Board of Members of Vietnam Post Corporation, with Vietnam Post's domestic and international postal and logistics infrastructure combined with the technology solutions that Vietnam SuperPort provides, comprehensive services help businesses reach the global market.

In addition, Vietnam SuperPortTM, University of Transport Technology (UTT) and Singapore Supply Chain and Logistics Academy (SCALA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish an Advanced Logistics Laboratory and implement initiatives that contribute to strengthening Vietnam's position as an important logistics hub in Southeast Asia.

Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien stated that logistics is a service industry that is considered the "blood vessels" of the economy, playing an important role in connecting and supporting businesses and production facilities to reduce costs, reduce product prices, improve competitiveness, and promote socio-economic development.

Recognizing that importance, the Party and State of Vietnam have issued many mechanisms, policies and directed the effective implementation of solutions to remove difficulties, reduce costs, improve competitiveness, create a favorable environment for the development of the logistics service industry, and gradually affirm the brand and position of the industry in the region and the world.

However, in addition to the achieved results, the development of Vietnam's logistics service industry is not commensurate with the country's potential and advantages; logistics costs are still high, competitiveness is low; the shortage of human resources, especially high-quality human resources and lack of infrastructure connectivity are major "bottlenecks" that hinder the development of logistics services. In addition, geopolitical changes and new business trends along with increasingly fierce strategic competition between major countries also pose many new challenges to the development of the economy in general and logistics services in particular.

According to Minister Nguyen Hong Dien, with its strategic and potential geographical location, strengths in developing deep-water seaport infrastructure, international airports, road and railway traffic hubs with countries in the region and the world, Vietnam has all the favorable conditions to build and develop large-scale and modern free trade zones. The Ministry of Industry and Trade, as the focal point for state management of logistics services, is submitting to the Prime Minister a draft Strategy for developing Vietnam's logistics services for the period 2025 - 2035, with a vision to 2050.

Therefore, the Draft Strategy has proposed many synchronous and drastic solutions; including the solution on building a Free Trade Zone to realize the goal of turning Vietnam into a strong country in logistics, actively contributing to the cause of industrialization and modernization of the country. These are important and practical contents for the development of Vietnam's logistics service industry and the country's economy in the new era - the era of national development.

Uyen Huong (Vietnam News Agency)