HCMC is Vietnam’s main logistics hub: index

HCMC, Vietnam’s economic hub, has the most developed technology platform and infrastructure and conducive policies for logistics services in the country.

It tops the first ever Vietnam Provincial Logistics Competitiveness Index (LCI), drawn up by the Vietnam Logistics Business Association (VLA), Vietnam Logistics Research and Development Institute and business consultant Dream Incubator, followed by Hai Phong City, Binh Duong and Ba Ria – Vung Tau provinces and Hanoi.

The index was mooted in 2022 and since November last year, the VLA has been surveying major logistics companies in the 26 richest cities and provinces and their freight volume, and the number of logistics businesses they have.

The LCI aims to establish an overview of the logistics industry in each province/city based on five key factors: local economy, logistics services, policies and regulatory framework, and logistics infrastructure and workforce.

At its release on Friday in HCMC, Tran Thanh Hai, deputy director general of the Agency of Foreign Trade, which provides policy and legal support to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said with many large economies trying to shift supply chains away from China, increasing overall logistics competitiveness could attract foreign investment and establish Vietnam as a key global logistics hub.

"The Ministry [of Industry and Trade] is building a strategy to develop Vietnam’s logistics industry so that by 2035 or 2045 we could become a key logistics hub for the region and the entire world."

Currently there are around 4,000 businesses in logistics in Vietnam, 70% of them based in HCMC and its nearby provinces.

Out of them, 90% are small companies with a capital of less than VND10 billion (US$398,100), 9% are midsized with a capital of VND20-100 billion and only 1% are large with more than VND100 billion.