Containers at Tan Cang - Cat Lai Terminal (Photo: VNA) Nguyen Minh Phuong from the Ministry of Industry and Trade'sAsia - Africa Market Department said the logistics industry of Vietnam wasdeveloping along with the country’s increase in imports and exports.
Phuong said that Vietnam had an advantageous geographicalposition to develop a logistics centre in Southeast Asia with an improvedsystem of warehouses, seaports and highways, adding that the development of thelogistics industry would also create favourable conditions for Vietnam tobecome a new production centre of the region.
According to Avery Shipton from the WLP initiative forum,products granted passports by the UAE would be given priority in customsclearance with less time for checking, loading and storing. Products could becleared before arrival at the ports.
WLP would help save time and costs by around 40 percent, hesaid.
Some ports of UAE are currently offering exemption of dutiesand fees for products with WLP, which is expected to boost trade between Vietnamand UAE and other markets in the Middle East region from 0.5 percent to 27 percent.
According to world logistics passport, 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 andfreight forwarders in reward for increasing their trade.
The WLP, the world’s first global freight loyalty scheme, benefitsbusinesses by reducing their supply chain costs and ensuring that goods will bemoved faster and more efficiently. This is achieved through access to benefitssuch as quicker customs clearance and priority handling and leads to a 2-3 percentincrease in trade value over two years.
It is established to overcome trade impediments that limittrade growth and build logistical bridges between manufacturing hubs in Asia,Africa, and Central and South America.
To date, the WLP networks include countries across LatinAmerica, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, with more global trade hubsregistering every month.
Building a better logistics system is critical for Vietnamto increase competitiveness and expand exports, as geopolitical tensions andrising oil prices are causing transportation costs to grow rapidly.
According to Tran Thanh Hai, deputy director of the Ministryof Industry and Trade's Import-Export Department, the COVID-19 pandemic pushedup sea freight rates by 4-6 times in the past two years, and there has been nosign of cooling down.
Figures of the Vietnam Logistics Association revealed thatlogistics costs were equivalent to around 20-22 percent of the country’s GDP,much higher than Thailand (19 percent), China (18 percent), Malaysia (13 percent)and nearly three times higher than the US and Singapore (8 percent).
Nguyen Tuong, an expert from the Vietnam LogisticsAssociation, said that high logistics costs were pushing up the prices ofproducts, which was a big problem for export firms and competitive advantagesof Vietnamese products.
Tuong pointed out that a problem of Vietnam’s logisticsindustry was that most enterprises were small and medium-sized, and had a lackof linkage and connectivity among transport modes and a shortage ofinfrastructure.
He said logistics firms should promote cooperation to createan efficient supply chain.
He said that to lower logistics costs, it was also necessaryto renovate operation methods to accelerate digital transformation./.
VNA
