World Logistics Passport initiative spotlighted at Hanoi seminar

Hanoi (VNA) – A seminar was held in Hanoi on February 28 to launch the Dubai-led World Logistics Passport (WLP) initiative in Vietnam and discuss the possibility of strengthening cooperation in logistics between Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The WLP is a global, private sector-led initiative designed to smooth the flow of global trade, unlock market access and provide economic efficiencies to members.

Enabled by key logistics partners such as airports, ports, and customs, the WLP offers financial and non-financial benefits to traders and freight forwarders as a reward for increasing their trade.

The WLP, the world’s first global freight loyalty scheme, benefits businesses by reducing their supply chain costs and ensuring that goods will be moved faster and more efficiently.

Vietnam is listed among 29 regional logistics and trade hubs of the programme with five businesses becoming its partners.

Addressing the seminar, Abdulla Alsuwaidi, WLP Manager and Lead of Partnerships and Hubs, highlighted the strategic position of Vietnam, which enables the country to become an important hub in the WLP network.

Meanwhile, UAE Ambassador to Vietnam Bader Abdulla Al Matrooshi said that the UAE is one of the largest trade partners of Vietnam in the Middle East region with two-way trade reaching 8 billion USD in 2022.

With the introduction of more ideas like the WLP, trade between the two countries is expected to increase through the improvement of trade and economic interest of signature partners, thus drawing more partners.

He thanked the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and relevant agencies of Vietnam for creating optimal conditions for bilateral economic cooperation, expressing his hope that partnership between UAE and Vietnamese businesses will continue to rise.

Tran Thanh Hai, Deputy Director of the Foreign Trade Agency under the MoIT, held that facilitating trade and strengthening national competitiveness have been a focus of not only the industry and trade sector but the whole logistics ecosystem of the country.

Hai said he hoped that with the launch of the WLP initiative in Vietnam, the domestic logistics sector will reap more successes, optimising and sharing the interest of the programme amid extensive international integration. The launch should also help promote trade between Vietnam and the UAE as well as trade among members of the whole WLP network.

Nguyen Phuc Nam, Deputy Director of the MoIT’s Asia-Africa Market Department, underlined that the WLP and Vietnamese stakeholders should work together to remove bottlenecks in the supply chains in particular areas and sectors, especially amid the interruption of supply chains, thus adding more Vietnamese firms to the WLP network and optimising the efficiency of Vietnam’s strategic location.

At the seminar, the WLP signed agreements to implement the initiative with Vietnamese partners, including Vietnam Airlines Corporation, Railway Transport and Trade JSC (RATRACO), T&Y Superport Vinh Phuc JSC, Viet Nam Shippers' Council (VNSC), and Vietnam Coffee Cocoa Association (Vicofa)./.