Logistics Reform Crucial for Vietnam's Global Competitiveness: Insiders

Logistics reform is crucial for Vietnam to transform its maritime advantages into global competitiveness, insiders suggest. Enhanced connectivity in international intermodal rail transport, featuring deeper hinterland integration and expanded two-way operations, demonstrates a new direction. Chinese investors have backed 35 projects in Can Tho with nearly $1.2 billion in registered capital. In the first seven months of 2026, Can Tho’s exports to China reached $77.5 million, while imports stood at $64.7 million. Key exports include rice, seafood, farm produce, processed agricultural products, and apparel, while main imports comprised agricultural chemicals, veterinary medicines, fertilizers, chemicals, fabrics, and other materials and inputs. Hanoisme has proposed support programs for green transition, intellectual property, traceability, and cross-border e-commerce, as well as credit packages specifically for exporters. Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Chi said the participation of regulators, investment funds, and financial institutions reflects growing interest among Austrian and European investors in the Vietnamese market and prospects for expanded bilateral collaboration. The 32nd SLC meeting focused on macroeconomic and financial developments and key issues in ASEAN financial integration. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, Vietnam’s agro-forestry-fishery exports in August were estimated at $6.47 billion, down 3.5% from the previous month but up 3.6% year-on-year. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has outlined three scenarios for 2027–2030. Under the high-growth scenario, international arrivals would rise 15–18 percent annually to reach 45–50 million, while domestic tourism would reach around 160 million trips. Total tourism revenue is projected at $80–90 billion. Experts stressed that success should not be measured by how much German technology is brought into Vietnam, but by whether the two sides can develop solutions that work in Vietnam and deliver lasting benefits for farmers, the economy, and the environment. Ready-built factories attracted 73% of new manufacturing FDI in northern Vietnam over the past two quarters, as foreign investment continued to surge at the region's industrial hubs during the first eight months of 2026. The trend points to growing demand for premises that can be put into operation quickly. With the current trading band of +/- 5%, the ceiling rate applicable for commercial banks during the day is 26,898 VND/USD, and the floor rate 24,336 VND/USD. Durian has morphed from a high-value crop into a strategic Vietnamese export. But as output climbs and importing markets tighten rules on quality, food safety, and traceability, the industry must pivot from volume growth to sustainable value chains, better quality, and diversified markets. Industry insiders say competition is no longer just about the cake itself. Product quality, packaging, brand reputation, delivery services, and personalization are increasingly shaping consumer choices in a market crowded with both domestic and foreign players. Vietnam and India agreed to make better use of complementary strengths, ease market access difficulties, and facilitate business activities toward achieving the $25 billion bilateral trade target. Vietnam currently has 223 investment projects in Cambodia with total registered capital of nearly $3.4 billion. Vietnamese companies operate in agriculture, finance and banking, telecommunications, aviation, processing, trade, and services. Maintaining monthly deliveries above 20,000 units despite August coinciding with the seventh lunar month (traditionally a low season in Vietnam) further underscores the strong appeal of electric vehicles and VinFast’s clear leadership in Vietnam’s automotive market for 24 consecutive months. VIFC development is seen as a strategic task to connect international capital flows with the economy’s development needs, develop modern financial services, and create favorable conditions for Vietnamese businesses to engage more deeply in global markets. A 2026 survey by Hoteljob.vn found that nearly 90% of tourism businesses planned to recruit. In Ho Chi Minh City alone, 89.7% of businesses were hiring, while 71.8% said recruitment was difficult or very difficult. The biggest shortages were among frontline workers, particularly in housekeeping, engineering, food service, front-office operations, and kitchens. Joli, a premium apple variety developed by New Zealand-based T&G, has been launched in the Vietnamese market, marking the first time it has been introduced to consumers anywhere in the world. The discussions come as the State Bank of Vietnam and Bank Indonesia near the end of their co-chairmanship term, marking another step in their cooperation to advance ASEAN's sustainable finance agenda. Great reliance on the state budget and conventional bank lending could put considerable pressure on the financial system, making it necessary to develop new and sustainable sources of funding from both domestic and international capital markets. The Vietnam-EFTA Free Trade Agreement brings together two groups of highly complementary economies. EFTA members Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein have strengths in technology, innovation, finance, clean energy, and sustainable development, while Vietnam is one of Asia’s most dynamic economies and is emerging as a major regional manufacturing, trade, and investment hub. The borrower’s consent must be given through a clear and specific method that can be printed or copied in writing, including in electronic form or another verifiable format. Blessed with rare and distinctive ecological values, the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau is stepping up efforts to conserve and develop its native ginseng, with the medicinal plant expected to play a growing role in the forest-based economy and local livelihoods. Copyright, VietnamPlus, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) Editor-in-chief, Mr. Tran Tien Duan.