Ho Chi Minh City, the economic powerhouse of Vietnam, boasts the most sophisticated technological framework and infrastructure in the nation, along with policies that favor the growth of logistics services. It claims the top spot in the inaugural Vietnam Provincial Logistics Competitiveness Index (LCI), which is the collaborative effort of the Vietnam Logistics Business Association (VLA), the Vietnam Logistics Research and Development Institute, and the business consultancy firm Dream Incubator. Following Ho Chi Minh City in the rankings are Hai Phong City, the provinces of Binh Duong and Ba Ria – Vung Tau, and the capital city, Hanoi.
The concept for the LCI was proposed in 2022, and since November of that year, the VLA has conducted surveys with leading logistics companies across the 26 wealthiest cities and provinces, examining their freight volumes and the quantity of logistics firms operating there.
The LCI is designed to provide a comprehensive snapshot of the logistics sector in each province/city, evaluating them across five critical dimensions: the local economic climate, the quality of logistics services, the policy and regulatory environment, logistics infrastructure, and the available workforce.
During the LCI’s unveiling on Friday in Ho Chi Minh City, Tran Thanh Hai, Deputy Director-General of the Agency of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, remarked on the global trend of diversifying supply chains away from China. He emphasized that enhancing Vietnam’s logistics competitiveness could entice foreign investment and position the country as an essential global logistics nexus.
“The Ministry [of Industry and Trade] is formulating a strategy to advance Vietnam’s logistics sector with the ambition of transforming it into a pivotal regional and global logistics hub by 2035 or 2045,” he stated.
Vietnam’s logistics industry comprises approximately 4,000 companies, with 70% located in Ho Chi Minh City and the surrounding provinces. Among these firms, 90% are small-scale enterprises with capital under VND10 billion (US$398,100), 9% are medium-sized with capital ranging from VND20 billion to VND100 billion, and a mere 1% are large-scale enterprises with a capital exceeding VND100 billion.
