Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh speaks at the workshop (Photo: VietnamPlus)
Hanoi (VNA) – Fostering connectivity among logistics firms and between them and producers and exporters would form a network of big enterprises able to lead the market, heard a workshop in Hanoi on April 20.
The workshop on developing logistics services was jointly held by the Agency for Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Cong Thuong (Industry & Trade) newspaper, and the National Agency for Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialisation Development at the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Low competitiveness
Participants pointed out limitations in the connectivity of logistics services, mainly due to high costs and low quality.
A representative from the Railway Transport and Trading JSC (Ratraco) said shortcomings in business scale, management, human resources quality and IT application have also hindered local firms from integrating into the world.
The railway sector is a case in point, as the loose connectivity between railway and other transport sectors has led to increasing logistics costs, thus harming competitiveness of the railway industry and logistics services in particular, the official added.
The aviation has yet to bring into full play its advantages in export either.
According to Deputy General Director of Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) Nguyen Quoc Phuong, international goods account for 80 percent of the total air freight, but Vietnamese carriers occupy a market share of only 12 percent.
In fact, many Vietnamese enterprises have invested heavily in transportation, but they have failed to form big groups to reach further to the world given the fierce competition.
Leading enterprises needed
Logistics costs remain high in Vietnam, accounting for more than 20 percent of the national gross domestic product (GDP), against the world average of only 11 percent, heard the workshop.
According to the Vietnam Logistics Business Association (VLA), 95 percent of the active logistics companies in the country are Vietnamese, but mostly of small or medium scale and with poor links.
The workshop was jointly held by the Export-Import Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Cong Thuong (Industry & Trade) newspaper, and the National Agency for Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialisation Development at the Ministry of Science and Technology. (Photo: VietnamPlus)
Many participants pointed out that their modest scale is one of the barriers to domestic logistics firms in competing in the domestic market, not to mention the regional and the international.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh said fostering connectivity among logistics firms and between them and producers and exporters would form a network of big enterprises that are able lead the market.
Such activities need not only efforts by businesses but also support policies of State management agencies, the official said.
Last year, when global trade was severely impacted by the COVID-19, logistics activities in many countries came to a standstill, while that in service of e-commerce became quickly overloaded due to a surge in online orders, he added.
Without careful preparations, logistics providers as well as production and business enterprises will face huge difficulties in adapting to the new circumstances, he stressed.
The official noted that the global logistics market was given a boost by the recovery in international trade flows in the second half of 2020. Moreover, post-pandemic trade facilitation and policies from governments to improve the economic climate were helpful in expanding the market.
Areport from ResearchAndMarket.com said the size of the global logistics market was estimated at 3.31 trillion USD in 2021, up 17.6 percent compared to 2000 and showing that the sector still boasts substantial development potential.
Insiders said the Ministry of Industry and Trade should complete policies and legal regulations on logistics services.
At the same time, it is necessary to complete logistics infrastructure by continuing to review planning and investing in supporting businesses to build large warehouses in different localities.
Authorities should also upgrade and connect transport infrastructure, cut fees, and allow the optimisation of resources through the re-distribution, sharing, and re-using of redundant capacity for the promotion of the logistics sector, they added./.
