Bac Ninh (VNS/VNA) - French logisticsand transport company FM Logistic has broken ground for a 30 million USD warehouseand distribution centre in the northern province of Bac Ninh.

Once completed, the new multi-client facilitywill employ around 300 people and provide 52,000sq.m of storage space for up to70,000 pallets.

Among the customers interested in the centre isBrenntag, a global market leader in chemical distribution.

“After one year of satisfying cooperation withFM Logistic in Bac Ninh, we have decided to expand this cooperation totemperature-controlled products,” said Le Minh Vuong, Supply Chain SeniorManager, Brenntag Vietnam.

“The new distribution centre will provide uswith more space to absorb our important growth.”

Thedemand for logistics is rising in Vietnam, one of the world’s fastest growingeconomies with a GDP growth of 7 Vietnam in 2018. The increasing domesticmanufacturing, the rise in wages and consumption, the young population andbooming e-commerce are also driving the Vietnamese logistics market.

This presents opportunities for internationalthird-party logistics companies providing value-added services and last-miledeliveries.

Hamza Harti, FM Logistic’s country managingdirector for Vietnam said the logistics market is now changing at a rapid rate.

“We can see logistics as a basic industry. Wetry to take part in transformation of Vietnam’s logistics industry,” he said.

According to the World Bank’s report, logisticscost in Vietnam is high as it accounted for 20 Vietnam of GDP, especially ine-commerce. The reason for the high cost was due to infrastructure.

“Vietnam needs more investments to makeinfrastructure more modern and invest in more highways and ports. We also tryto contribute to the transformation by building more warehouses and logisticsdistribution centres. We would diminish logistics cost compared to GDP,” headded.

“The Bac Ninh warehouse and distribution centrewill support the development of food, retail, fast moving consumer goods(FMCG), industrial and cosmetics companies on the booming Vietnamese market. Itwill also increase FM Logistics’ warehousing space almost tenfold, at a momentwhen class A-warehousing is in high demand. This testifies to our commitment toinvesting in Vietnam,” he said.

The company said it hopes to become one of thetop three players in the market in the next five years

From May 2019, FM Logistic will also startoperating a rented 6,500sq.m warehouse in Binh Duong.

The company started operations in Vietnam inAugust 2017. In 2018, it started providing nationwide transportation services,using a network of partners.-VNS/VNA