Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh delivers a speech at the Logistics Forum Vietnam 2020 held in Hanoi on November 26. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - The Logistics Forum Vietnam2020 was held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) in Hanoi on November26, with more than 500 businesses attending.
In his address, Secretary of the Hanoi Party CommitteeVuong Dinh Hue lauded the MoIT’s initiative to coordinate with the World Bank (WB) andrelevant agencies to hold the forum, which offers a chance for entrepreneurs,scientists, and experts to discuss how to best promote the growth of the domesticlogistics sector.
Noting that fluctuations in the region and the world,along with the COVID-19 pandemic, are affecting Vietnam, he stressed the need for cohesiveand responsive efforts in overcoming the difficulties and challenges, makingbreakthroughs in the sector’s growth to serve socio-economic development.
In order to reduce logistic costs, Hue suggested the promotionof research and development (R&D) activities in the field.
Businesses also need to strengthen the application ofachievements from the fourth Industrial Revolution in logistics services, he said.
Hue also advised enterprises to apply transportmanagement systems using cloud computing technology that allows for the tracingof product origin and transportation routes, together with other technologies,to strengthen connections and ensure security for customers and partners.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung askedthe MoIT to soon establish a project on personnel matters in support of theNational Steering Committee on ASEAN and National Single Window Mechanisms,while effectively implementing policies and action programmes on internationaleconomic integration, focusing on enhancing the capacity to realise internationaleconomic commitments.
He requested the Ministry of Planning and Investment coordinatewith relevant agencies to promptly build a system for the compilation of logisticsstatistics to identify bottlenecks, and to mobilise social resources for thedevelopment of infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance was asked to proposeplans to allocate financial resources for the implementation of the action planto enhance competitiveness and develop the logistics services sector to 2025.
According to Minister of Industry and Trade Tran TuanAnh, the COVID-19 pandemic saw logistics activities stagnate around the world.
Vietnamese businesses overall, however, benefited fromthe country curbing the spread of the pandemic and now have access to opportunitiesfrom new generation free trade agreements (FTA), including the Comprehensive andProgressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-VietnamFTA (EVFTA).
Vietnam’s trade revenue stood at 439.8 billion USD inthe first 10 months of 2020, he said, up 2.62 percent year-on-year. Trade wasstill in surplus, to the tune of 18.72 billion USD.
He said that people now tend to shop online more,leading to faster digital transformation in trade and logistics.
The implementation of FTAs has also intensified competitivepressure on domestic products, especially farm produce, which is closelyattached to vulnerable groups of farmers during international economicintegration.
Along with a plenary system on reducing logisticscosts and enhancing competitiveness amid international economic integration,participants also discussed various issues relating to logistics infrastructureand the sector’s digital transformation./.
