Why do Vietnamese logistics enterprises still have to work as hired laborers on their "home turf"?

Mr. Cap Trong Cuong - General Director of Vietnam Container Corporation (VICONSHIP) shared this seemingly paradoxical story at a mid-week talk show organized by the Vietnam Logistics Service Association (VLA).

"We have the infrastructure, human resources, processes, and trust from foreign partners, but in fact, we are still working for them," said Mr. Cuong.

The leader of this business also pointed out the weakness of Vietnamese logistics enterprises. That is, the support and linkages of enterprises could be stronger. In the market, there are many large-cap companies, and the network is relatively good, but the interchange between enterprises is not high. This is one of the things that makes Vietnam's logistics undeveloped really true to its importance.

Linkage is still an inherent weakness of Vietnamese logistics enterprises

"This is also what makes Vietnam's logistics costs so high. Paradoxically, we compete with each other to serve foreign customers, offering low prices to win customers. But we offer businesses in Vietnamese industry with higher domestic logistics prices," emphasized Mr.

Talking about the seaport sector, the leader of this business expressed "feeling embarrassed" because Vietnam is the lowest low-lying region in the world in terms of seaport handling prices, losing to both Cambodia and Myanmar.

Therefore, the representative of VICONSHIP believes that businesses must work together to come up with the most reasonable problems, and the most practical mutual support for all to reduce costs. Which, technology must be changed to meet the needs of the market, towards a green environment in line with the trend of the times.

Mr. Tran Thanh Hai, Deputy Director of the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), said: The number of businesses and the quality of logistics services business is increasing, making a significant contribution to the results of import and export of goods. reached an all-time high of $732.5 billion, up 9.5% from 2021.

According to Agility's assessment in 2022, Vietnam is ranked 11th in the group of 50 global emerging logistics markets.

However, Mr. Hai assessed, Vietnam's logistics industry still has many weaknesses such as high logistics costs; a lack of linkage between logistics service enterprises with each other and production, business, and import-export enterprises.

In addition, the scale and financial potential of Vietnamese logistics enterprises are still weak, and going to foreign markets is not significant.