Da Nang identifies the development of logistics services as one of the areas of special priority in its development strategy. However, the city still faces many difficulties and problems that need to be solved in order to speed up the role of promoting the development of the logistics service industry.

Freight loading and unloading activities at Da Nang’s Tien Sa Port. Photo: T.L

Proposals that need attention

In May 2023, the delegation of the Da Nang Customs Department directly visited 14 businesses in the area to learn about difficulties and problems in order to assist in handling customs procedures, creating favourable conditions for import and export activities. Here, many businesses pointed out to some recommendations related to logistics issues.

According to Da Nang International Airport (ACV), the Customs Department needs to propose to the competent authorities to help the airport expand its cargo storage space to attract inflows of goods and investment into the city.

Meanwhile, the Da Nang Port proposed many issues related to customs clearance, such as reducing paperwork and shortening processing time for customers, customs authorities coordinating with enterprises in applying digitisation in scanning work, and at the same time upgrading the IT system to ensure stability and long-term declarations for enterprises.

Notably, the Da Nang Rubber Joint Stock Company (DRC) stated that the container handling fee is still high, which has affected businesses in the current financially-challenging period. In the long run, in the process of integrating and opening up the logistics service market, the Da Nang logistics environment must be improved comprehensively to be on par with other cities in the region.

What to do to meet development logistics requirements?

According to statistics, Da Nang currently houses more than 1,000 enterprises engaged in providing activities related to logistics services and is ranked sixth in the top 10 provinces/cities with many logistics enterprises in Viet Nam. Da Nang has many universities that have logistics training courses such as the Da Nang University of Economics, the private universities of Architecture, Dong A and Duy Tan.

However, the lack of human resources, especially trained human resources, is a major obstacle to the development of the field of logistics. Along with that, the logistics industry still has many weaknesses, first of all, because it is too heavily influenced by foreign enterprises amd domestic ones have not been able to link together and have not been able to link with manufacturers. The scale and financial potential of domestic enterprises are still modest, so they often encounter price squeezing or suffer low profits in logistics services.

Ph.D Vo Duy Nghi, a lecturer at the FSB Institute of Business Administration, the FPT University, cum Chairman of the Board of Directors of Amity Logistics, pointed out to a fact that the logistics industry in Da Nang, and Viet Nam at large, is lacking in human resources with high quality,  professional expertise, and in-depth knowledge of logistics and supply chain management while there is an excessive abundance in logistics human resources to undertake simple professional tasks such as warehousing, tally and customs procedures.

A worrying situation is that production, import and export enterprises are those involved in logistics activities, and have little interest in recruiting and training human resources in charge of logistics.

According to the project ‘The development of logistics services in Da Nang, effectively connecting the central key economic region and the East-West Economic Corridor in the 2021 - 2030 period, with a vision to 2050’, with a target of developing logistics services in a modern, synchronous and sustainable direction; gradually turning Da Nang into a national logistics centre of an international stature; becoming an important key economic development area of the country, the main door to the sea of central locations and the East-West Economic Corridor and an important link of the Asia-Pacific transport corridor.

In this regard, Mr. To Van Hiep, the Chairman of the Da Nang Road Cargo Transport Association, said that the city is in need of high-quality logistics human resources. Therefore, in order to develop Da Nang's logistics services, in addition to improving the logistics environment and investing in infrastructure, it is high time for Da Nang to promote human resource training on logistics services.

Reporting by THANH LAN - Translating by A.THU