Vietnam Logistics Forum 2020: Reducing logistics costs, improving competitiveness

(VLR) On November 26th, in Hanoi, the Ministry of Industry and Trade in coordination with the Hanoi People's Committee and the World Bank in Vietnam successfully organized the Vietnam Logistics Forum 2020. This is an annual event, attracting great attention from ministries, sectors and the Vietnamese logistics service business community.

The main topic of this year's Forum is to discuss solutions to reduce logistics costs to improve the competitiveness of the Vietnamese economy in the context of global integration. In addition, at the Forum, issues on Digital Transformation in Logistics; Logistics Infrastructure - Trends and Opportunities were also discussed by experts and businesses to find solutions to remove difficulties and promote development.

The Forum was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh, Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Vuong Dinh Hue, along with leaders of the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Finance, World Bank in Vietnam, Australian Embassy and many representatives of state management agencies, associations, businesses, and logistics training institutions.

The Vietnam Logistics Forum 2020 is held in a context with many new features. The implementation and signing of new-generation free trade agreements such as CPTPP, EVFTA, RCEP require businesses to make efforts to improve their competitiveness. Meanwhile, the issue of logistics costs has been raised for many years but is still a bottleneck. The COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected businesses in general and logistics service businesses in particular. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is working with ministries, branches and localities to focus on removing difficulties, promoting production and export of goods, thereby effectively utilizing new FTAs, reducing damage caused by the pandemic and quickly restoring growth momentum.

In his opening speech at the Forum, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said that in the first 10 months of 2020, statistics showed that Vietnam's economy has stood firm, overcome and continued to maintain its growth momentum. Specifically, Vietnam's export turnover in the first 10 months of the year is estimated at 439.8 billion USD, up 2.62% over the same period last year, of which Vietnam's export turnover reached 229.7 billion USD, up 4.7% over the same period in 2019". In the context that the entire regional and global trade has been strongly affected, a series of major exporting countries as well as import markets have seen declines and negative growth in the import-export sector, this can be said to be a sign of the vitality, endurance, and ability to rise of the Vietnamese economy as well as the Vietnamese business community.

Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung highly appreciated the development of Vietnam's logistics in recent years, gradually affirming its particularly important role in the Vietnamese economy. Along with that, the logistics forum, after 7 times of organization, has become a prestigious space, connecting and sharing between policy makers, managers, experts and businesses, from which many solutions have been proposed to develop the logistics service industry in Vietnam.

Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee, Mr. Vuong Dinh Hue, said that the topics of the two discussion sessions “Logistics infrastructure - Trends and opportunities”, “Digital transformation in logistics” are very practical, timely, and in line with the development strategy of Vietnam's logistics service industry in the coming time.

Representing the Vietnam Logistics Service Enterprise Association, Mr. Dao Trong Khoa, Vice President, said that Vietnam's logistics service industry is an essential industry, a spearhead service industry with high added value, contributing to improving the competitiveness of the economy. Mr. Khoa said that the main factors that make up logistics costs include: Transportation costs; Inventory costs; Management costs; and Infrastructure costs. Therefore, to reduce logistics costs, it is necessary to continue investing in and developing logistics infrastructure, focusing on the fields of transportation, developing inland waterway systems, improving the efficiency of domestic and international railways, developing aviation logistics, promoting digital transformation as well as improving the quality of human resources, etc. At the Forum, Ms. Pham Kim Lien, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Vietnam Logistics Review Magazine, along with 4 individuals and representatives of 15 collectives, were awarded certificates of merit by the Ministry of Industry and Trade for their contributions to the development of the logistics industry. At the same time, the 2020 Logistics Report was also officially announced at the Forum..

Memorandum of Understanding Signing Ceremony between Vietnam Logistics Services Business Association and Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade

Memorandum of Understanding Signing Ceremony between ASEAN Cargo Gateway Joint Stock Company and Vina T&T Import Export Trading Service Company Limited

Discussion session on Logistics Connectivity Infrastructure - Trends and Opportunities

Discussion session Digital transformation in logistics