Some recommendations to reduce national logistics costs in Vietnam

Abstract

Logistics is an important service sector in the overall structure of the national economy, playing the role of supporting, connecting and promoting socioeconomic development of the country as well as each locality. By using the method of analysis and synthesis, this paper examines the logistics costs in Vietnam during the period from 2014 to 2020, based on the data obtained from literature in the past and some international reports on logistics costs. According to several World Bank’s reports on logistics costs and the Logistics Report of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT, 2020), logistics costs as a percentage of GDP in Vietnam is still high compared to many countries in the world. Reducing logistics costs becomes a strategic solution to reduce business costs and increase competitiveness for the  country in general and businesses in particular (United Nations, ESCAP, 2002); and this is the basis for making national policies, developing and building infrastructure (Farahani et al. 2009, 58). However, reducing logistics costs can affect the revenue
of Vietnamese logistics enterprises, so this paper provides some solutions to reduce logistics costs in Vietnam in the direction of improving efficiency of logistics activities.