On November 22, in Da Nang, the Ministry of Industry and Trade coordinated with the City People’s Committee to organize Vietnam Logistics Forum 2019. Attending the forum were Mr. Tran Thanh Hai – Deputy Director of Import-Export Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade; Mr. Tran Trong Khoa – Vice President of Vietnam Association of Logistics Services Enterprises, World Bank representative in Vietnam and nearly 300 businesses and experts in the fields of technology, logistics.
Vietnam Logistics Forum is the biggest annual event in the logistics service industry. After 6 times of being held, the forum has contributed to successfully create a national level forum connecting with the world; Strongly demonstrating the voice of the business community and localities operating in the logistics sector. Thereby, it contributes to the establishment, consolidation and strengthening of the linkages between stakeholders in order to improve competitiveness and develop Logistics.
According to Mr. Tran Thanh Hai – Deputy Director of Import-Export Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade, with the goal of clearing logistics flows, Vietnam Logistics Forum 2019 will continue to discuss and discuss strategic and practical issues. Vietnam’s logistics industry in relation to the domestic and international economic context and the development trend of digital technology.
This year’s forum took place with many activities such as a seminar on logistics connecting East-West Economic Corridor and shared economy in logistics; plenary session with the theme of logistics to enhance the value of agricultural products; surveying Chu Lai ports and logistics centers … Especially, at the session to discuss strategic issues of Vietnam’s logistics industry in relation to the global economic context, experts shared the solutions. solutions to develop logistics in the East-West economic corridor. This is a 1,450 km long road traffic route, with the western pole being the port city of Mawlamyine (Myanmar), passing through Thailand, Laos and the easternmost is Da Nang city (Vietnam).
According to Marco Civardi, Regional Director of Vietnam – Laos – Cambodia – Myanmar (Maersk Group), Vietnam is now the main gateway for countries in the East-West economic corridor, and is the first choice of companies. international. “East-West economic corridor becomes the entrance-exit to Southeast Asia for the US, Europe, China through the East-West corridor. More than 200 investment projects and technical assistance with more than 60 billion USD in investment in The region shows great potential for logistics activities “.
Therefore, to promote this strength, Mr. Marco Civardi said that Vietnam needs to focus on improving infrastructure and efficiency; comprehensive improvement in supply chain cost, speed and reliability; at the same time, continue to improve transparency and simplify electronic customs procedures.
Mr. Duong Tien Lam, General Director of Asiatrans Vietnam Shipping Company also suggested to speed up the completion of EWEC 2 route: Da Nang – Nam Giang – Sekong – Champasak (Laos) – Vangtau – Ubon Ratchathani – Bangkok route (Thailand). According to Mr. Lam, this route will facilitate the circulation of goods between Thailand, Southern Laos and Central Vietnam. In particular, Southern Laos has strengths with agro-forestry products and the potential to develop a processing industry; The route via Nam Giang to Da Nang will be the shortest journey to bring products from Southern Laos to Da Nang seaport.
At the forum, experts and representatives of logistics enterprises focused on analyzing and proposing solutions to develop the East-West Economic Corridor logistics. Because the current transportation infrastructure system is developing inadequate; ineffective connection of transport modes; logistics centers that play the role of connecting Vietnam with the world have not yet been built … leading to high logistics costs, affecting the competitiveness of the Vietnamese economy.
Along with upgrading road and bridge infrastructure at border gates, applying digital technology to control goods … experts also say that the exchange of shared economic models in logistics, Increasing the application of information technology, artificial intelligence (AI) in supply chain management, transport network design will contribute to reducing logistics costs, increasing the efficiency of the transport infrastructure system. From there, contributing to strengthening multilateral connections, creating a foundation for sustainable development, enhancing the value of logistics contributions in the coming time.
