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Businesses face hurdles because of high logistics costs |
At yesterday’s seminar about customs accompanying enterprises to develop logistics, and improve competitiveness of import and export goods organized by the Vietnam Customs in collaboration with relevant units, many businesses voiced their opinion that Vietnam's import-export capacity is limited because Vietnam's logistics costs are still too high.
Deputy Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Department of Import-Export Tran Thanh Hai emphasized that logistics costs in Vietnam currently account for about 16.8 percent of the value of goods meanwhile it is only about 10.6 percent in other countries in the world. Many enterprises revealed they were forced to pay high charges by foreign shipping lines plus complicated inspection procedures overlap between many ministries, leading to long waits for customs clearance and many additional fees.
Therefore, they proposed that relevant authorities need to accelerate investment in the construction of modern ports, airports and warehouse facilities, and transport routes including roads, railways and waterways to improve the ability to transport goods to improve Vietnam’s export capacity,.
Additionally, responsible agencies should create a favorable business environment for enterprises operating in the field of logistics, reducing cumbersome legal regulations and operating costs.
Currently, the Southeast Asian country’s growth rate of the industry in the domestic market in recent years has reached about 14-16 percent with a scale of US$ 42 billion annually.
