Sir, although in the past few years the industry logistics Vietnam has developed quite fast, but the sea infrastructure has not kept up. What is your opinion on this issue?
– Grandfather Tran Thanh Hai: The whole country has 286 wharves belonging to 6 groups of seaports, with a length of about 95km wharf (more than 4.5 times in 2000). Vietnam has established gateway ports with international transshipment in the northern and southern regions, successfully receiving container ships from 132,000 tons at Lach Huyen port area (Hai Phong) to 214,000 tons at Cai port area. Mep (Ba Ria – Vung Tau) and large-scale specialized wharfs attached to industrial parks, metallurgical complexes, refineries and petrochemicals, thermal power centers to receive ships of up to 200,000 tons, liquid goods up to 150,000 tons, crude oil to 320,000 tons.
Vietnam has established 32 routes, of which 25 international transport routes and 7 domestic transport routes, in which in addition to intra-Asia routes, the Northern region has operated 2 routes to North America; The South has formed 16 long-distance train routes to North America and Europe, outperforming Southeast Asian countries (only after Malaysia and Singapore). Most of the ports attached to the centers and major economic regions of the country have formed large seaports with the role of a focal point serving import and export of goods and creating a driving force for the development of the whole region.
According to preliminary data from the Vietnam Maritime Administration, in 2021, the total volume of goods through Vietnam’s seaports is estimated to reach more than 703 million tons, up 2% compared to 2020. Of which, exports will reach more than 184 million tons, up 4%; domestic goods reached nearly 303 million tons, up 5%. Container cargo alone is estimated at nearly 24 million TEUs, up 6% over the previous year.
Total transport volume transported by Vietnam’s shipping fleet also prospered during the pandemic, estimated at 156.5 million tons, up 2% compared to 2020. In which, container cargo volume of Vietnamese shipping fleet The South is estimated to reach more than 3 million TEUs, up 12% over the previous year. The fleet of ships with Vietnamese flags is still taking care of nearly 100% of domestic goods transported by sea, except for a few specialized ships such as LPG, chemicals, and cement.
Although there have been great advances in both institutions and infrastructure in recent years, with the scale of import and export of goods continuously increasing and the majority still using sea, it can be said that the challenge is to out to Vietnam’s maritime industry is huge.
Vietnam’s exports are dependent on 38 foreign shipping lines and around there are many inadequacies. Can Vietnam have its own fleet in the future, sir?
–Mr. Tran Thanh Hai: In fact, Vietnam already has a certain number of ships, but scattered in many small businesses, not concentrated, the ships have a high exploitation time, while the current trend of shipping is As for containerization, our number of container ships is very small, with a small tonnage.
The weakness of Vietnamese enterprises is that the cost of services is still high, the quality of some services is not high, in the context of Vietnam’s service supply market today with fierce competition. In addition, limitations in terms of business size and capital, experience and management qualifications, the ability to apply information technology as well as the level of human resources have not met the requirements of international operations, leading to Vietnamese shipping lines do not have many international orders.
To have a Vietnamese shipping company, it is necessary to have an enterprise with high determination, good investment mobilisation, quality management policy, and international market access. We have had airlines such as Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Bamboo Airways reaching out internationally, especially in recent years, establishing direct flights to Europe and the United States. aggressively expand into foreign markets. If there are pioneering enterprises like the above in the maritime sector, it is possible that Vietnam has its own container shipping company that can handle intra-Asia routes as well as to the US West Coast.
Could you tell us what the year 2021 means for logistics development policy?
– Mr. Tran Thanh Hai: The year 2021 is of special significance, being the first year of implementing the Resolution of the 13th National Congress of the Party, the first year of implementing the Socio-economic Development Plan 2021-2025 and the Strategy. socio-economic development 2021-2030. In early 2021, an outbreak of disease in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, also greatly affected production and business activities in the country and between Vietnam and other markets. 2021 is also the year that Vietnam’s economy – society is heavily affected by the 4th wave of COVID-19 epidemic, with social distancing and prolonged production and circulation disruptions.
In that context, the Government, ministries, branches and localities have promptly issued many policies related to logistics, on the one hand, still ensuring the role of logistics in maintaining the supply chain of goods and services. ; on the other hand, shaping new and even breakthrough directions for Vietnam’s logistics industry, contributing to relieving pressure during the period of social distancing because of the epidemic, promoting economic recovery after COVID-19 and recovering from the pandemic. for the sustainable development of the country.
The Resolution of the XIII Congress also approved strategic breakthroughs, including breakthroughs: “Building a synchronous and modern infrastructure system in both economic and social terms; give priority to the development of a number of national key projects on traffic and climate change adaptation; focus on developing information and telecommunications infrastructure, creating a foundation for national digital transformation, gradually developing the digital economy and digital society. This is also a very important orientation for our country’s logistics development in the coming time, both in terms of hardware and software infrastructure for the breakthrough and sustainable development of logistics.
On February 22, 2021, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 221/QD-TTg, which set the target that “By 2025, the contribution of logistics services to GDP will reach 5%-6%, a fast pace. logistics service growth reaches 15%-20%, the rate of outsourcing logistics services reaches 50%-60%, logistics costs decrease to 16%-20% of GDP, ranked by the world LPI index reaching 50th and above”. The decision will be an important basis for the synchronous implementation of tasks to develop national logistics in the 2021-2025 period.
Decision No. 531/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister dated April 1, 2021 approving the overall strategy for development of Vietnam’s service sector for the period of 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, in which development is focused. Some industries, products and services have a high content of knowledge and technology and have competitive advantages, including logistics.
Thank you and have a healthy new year!
Source: Labor Newspaper
