Hanoi (VNA) – Hanoi is expected tobecome one of the country’s three major logistics hubs that meet internationalstandards, said a municipal official.

Nguyen Thanh Hai, Deputy Director of the municipalDepartment of Industry and Trade, said Hanoi has launched a project on managingand developing logistics services in the locality by 2025.

Accordingly, the city will build two logisticscentres in its north and south, each spanning from 20 to 50ha and connectedwith inland container depots (ICD) and seaports like Hai Phong, Hon Gai and CaiLan, and airports, coach and railway stations, and industrial parks. Aspecialised logistics centre will also be constructed at Noi Bai InternationalAirport.

The sector is expected to contribute 9-11 percent ofthe city’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP) by 2025 when two logisticscentres, two ICDs, an international container port and other facilities are putinto operation.

Tran Duc Nghia, Director of Delta International Co.,Ltd, suggested increasing connectivity in the logistics chain, especiallybetween vehicles, in order to reduce logistics costs and improve theprofessionalism of the services. Taking the busy Hanoi-Hai Phong route as an example,he said it needs logistics services at both sides.

Statistics reveal that only 5,445 out of about25,000 businesses registering logistics services in Hanoi become operational. Upto 80 percent of them are private and the majority have small scale and limitedcapital, technologies and workforce.

Therefore, domestic logistics businesses meet onlyabout 25 percent of the market demand while the rest are fulfilled by globalgroups like Kunhe Nagel, Schenker, Bikar and APL Logistics.

Economists pointed out limitations in the city’slogistics sector such as unutilized river ports, old railway system andsmall-scale warehouses, along with high logistics cost.

Businesses have to burden various logistics fees regardingcustoms and transportation, which is one of the reasons making Vietnameseproducts find hard to compete with others from regional countries, they said.

Covering an area ofover 3,300 sq.m and with a population of over 8.2 million people, Hanoi is oneof the country’s leading localities in FDI attraction. In the first eightmonths of 2018, Hanoi lured 5.93 billion USD in FDI.

Along with the synchronous infrastructuresystem, Hanoi is also the leading locality in promoting regional economicconnection, and is home to many domestic and foreign logistics servicecompanies.

With these factors, Hanoi is qualified fordeveloping into a logistics service centre of the country, NguyenTuong, a senior advisor of the Vietnam Logistics Business Association, said ata workshop in Hanoi last month.

He suggested the city roll out policies toconcretise the Government’s laws and decisions on logistics development in thelocality.-VNA