Earlier this month Idemitsu Q8 Petroleum LLC opened its first retail outlet in Ha Noi’s Thang Long Industrial Park, marking the first time a wholly foreign-owned company has entered the fuel retail sector.

Vietnam now has favorable conditions for logistics services to develop: an e-commerce boom, increased consumption, and shift of production from China to SE Asia.

 The Vietnam National Shipping Lines and Japan’s NYK Line will study developing transportation and logistics activities to serve plants and industrial parks in the Mekong Delta region, per a Memorandum of Understanding inked on June 5.

VietNamNet Bridge - The total expenses for logistics services in Vietnam are estimated at 21 percent of GDP, much higher than 9-14 percent in developed countries.

VietNamNet Bridge - Reports by Vietnamese and international institutions have all pointed out that Vietnam’s logistics industry is weak in competitiveness. 

 VietNamNet Bridge – Tourism and travel are expected to contribute substantially to growth in trade in services and total export growth of Vietnam in the coming years,

Though Vietnamese customs services are ranked sixth out of seven surveyed countries in South East Asia (SEA), logistics at domestic seaports have improved in the last 10 years thanks to the government’s efforts to upgrade infrastructure.

 VietNamNet Bridge – HCMC is looking for locations to develop large-scale logistics centers that can incorporate different services and modes of transport to meet growing demand of importers and exporters.

VietNamNet Bridge - Unofficial fees are one of the reasons behind businesses’ sky-high logistics costs, which account for 25 percent of GDP.

VietNamNet Bridge - Though many Vietnamese logistics firms have become integrated 3PL (third-party logistics) service providers, they can only join the market at a primary level.

VietNamNet Bridge – Online payments now account for only 5-10 percent of total trading value in e-commerce, while payments in cash-on-delivery account for 90-95 percent.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Domestic logistics firms have got ready to compete with foreign service providers in Vietnam, the market which has been fully opened since January 11, 2014.

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 VietNamNet Bridge - The Mekong Delta has seaports and international airports, but due to its poor transport infrastructure and low labor skills, foreign investors do not want to pour capital into the region.

VietNamNet Bridge – The demand for air cargo transportation has bounced back in the world. Vietnam is one of the three fastest growing markets in the world.

In Vietnam, productivity growth in the rail transport sector is the lowest among the transport modes.