This is still open. Thanks to that, the correlation between Vietnamese logistics enterprises on EWEC compared to enterprises of other countries has changed significantly - at present, Vietnam has strong enterprises with competitive capacity. Logistics activities on the East - West economic corridor have brought many advantages to enterprises such as:
- Reduce costs and time : Currently, most Vietnamese shipping companies do not have a global logistics system, so they often have to pay a large fee for renting a warehouse to store goods. When applying logistics in shipping, businesses are forced to have their own warehouse system both domestically and internationally, so when doing shipping, businesses can collect individual shipments and store them until they can be packed into a large shipment and then transfer them to a ship to be sent. Thus, the cost of sending a large shipment will be cheaper than sending a small shipment, in addition, there will be no additional warehouse rental fee. In addition, the goal of logistics is to transport goods at the right time ( Just in time ) and not to keep inventory ( zero - stock ), which means minimizing waiting time at points and avoiding storage. Therefore, logistics service providers must arrange a suitable schedule for goods to arrive at the port, be loaded onto the means of transport immediately, and when arriving at the destination port, be unloaded and delivered to the owner, thereby reducing the time the goods have to wait at the warehouse or on the means of transport. The owner as well as the carrier will not have to pay storage costs or late loading and unloading penalties, costs that directly affect the cost of providing delivery and transportation services. A similar situation will occur on railways and highways, when businesses also try their best to reduce the time it takes for goods to go from the sender to the recipient or the time the goods stay in road warehouses. Typically, because EWEC is a road traffic corridor, logistics companies must pay even more attention to this issue.
- Increase flexibility and initiative in business operations : when applying logistics, businesses must have a warehouse system, be proactive in storing and preserving goods, have their own fleet of vehicles or ships to be proactive in freight rates, and gain transportation rights to bring in greater revenue. At the same time, when applying logistics, freight forwarding businesses must have an information management system with the application of information technology achievements, helping businesses to be proactive in capturing timely information to make the right decisions such as: clearly understanding the movement schedule of goods, the operating status of ports to be able to arrange ships to enter the port in time, the operating status of road traffic routes, having a proactive plan to collect goods to transport on the right route, promptly grasping price fluctuations and flexibly changing to suit the general market. Moreover, the application of logistics also helps to carry out customs clearance procedures more conveniently. When the goods have not yet arrived at the border gate, the information about the goods has been received by the local customs and procedures have been completed. When the goods arrive at the border gate, it will take less time to complete the procedures and businesses will be more proactive in transporting goods, reducing customs clearance time.
- Increase competitiveness : as analyzed, when applying logistics, freight forwarding enterprises in general will reduce costs, reduce the "dead" time that goods have to wait for release, ensure the correct schedule of goods, so that goods arrive at the right time and place. That increases the quality of freight forwarding services, reduces service costs, increases the reputation and competitiveness of the enterprise because the price and quality of service are the two most important factors affecting the owner's decision to hire a logistics company to provide services for them. Applying logistics requires a system of international quality standards, so of course the quality of freight forwarding services will also increase as an inevitable consequence. When applying
With global logistics, the delivery person only needs to enter the bill of lading number and shipment code into the computer and after only 5 minutes can grasp the detailed information about the date, time, and location of the goods arrival and notify the shipper. Thus, businesses increasingly provide better services to customers, retain old customers and attract more new customers. Logistics has truly become a powerful competitive weapon, helping those who know how to use it to win.
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- Increase revenue and profit : the benefits that logistics brings to freight forwarding businesses on the East-West economic corridor are indeed not small: reducing costs, reducing "dead" time, improving service quality, increasing the competitiveness of businesses... and this is an inevitable consequence for increasing revenue and profit of businesses. Businesses applying logistics will perform a full package of services to provide goods "from warehouse to warehouse", thus naturally being able to collect additional fees from the shipper, leading to increased revenue of the business. In addition, if there is a business that acts as the focal point for providing logistics services, it will attract many other freight forwarders to participate, becoming the centipedes that collect goods for transportation in order to benefit from the warehouse system and network.
global information of the enterprise. Thus, the economic theory of "increasing economies of scale" has fully demonstrated its correctness: the cost of sending a large shipment is always much cheaper than the cost of sending many small shipments. Freight forwarding businesses collect fees from individual shippers but consolidate them into a large shipment and send it to the actual carrier at the cost of a large shipment and profit from that difference. Thus, through the provision of logistics services, freight forwarding businesses earn more profits.
With such advantages, but businesses providing logistics services in general and freight forwarding services in particular in Vietnam on the
The East-West economic corridor is facing many difficulties, such as:
- The first difficulty is the cost issue. Because logistics activities include many stages and steps, applying all of these activities requires a large cost and is more complicated than conventional transportation and delivery services. Enterprises need to invest more in warehouses, yards, factories, transportation capacity, communication networks, human resources, etc.
- Next is the difficulty in human resources. Vietnam currently lacks competent and experienced managers in the logistics field. In any field, people and knowledge are still a decisive factor. Without or lacking competent and experienced managers, it is impossible to succeed and achieve efficiency in practical activities. Logistics is a very new field for businesses in general and Vietnamese transportation and delivery service businesses in particular, so human resources are still very weak and lacking. The management and operation staff are currently being trained to meet management needs, their experience is increasingly improved, most of them have university degrees. However, they still work with the old management style, not adapting to new conditions and circumstances.
not yet equipped with comprehensive knowledge of logistics as well as logistics management. Regarding the professional staff, most of them have degrees but have not been trained in depth in logistics, all have to improve their qualifications. Regarding the direct labor team, in reality, the level of education is low, so they are still very vague about logistics activities. Their work is monotonous, just loading, counting, keeping, driving... and uses more human power than machinery.
- The role of information networks in the process of organizing logistics services is very important and it can be said that it determines the success or failure of these service providers. However, businesses in the transportation and delivery service business are currently applying information technology in
The level is still limited. Vietnam still lacks the necessary technological equipment for logistics-related activities. In the world today, the role of information technology is highly appreciated, many people think that information technology is like a savior for manufacturers and businesses. Logistics can only be applied and promoted effectively on the basis of taking advantage of the advantages of information technology, by applying information flows to monitor and track the entire movement of goods. The use of electronic data exchange systems (English: Electronic Data Interchange , hereinafter referred to as EDI) with the support of communication networks and processing technology plays a vital role in the movement of goods and documents. Thus, it can be understood that logistics in the entire physical distribution process is essentially the use of information to organize and manage the movement of goods through many stages, routes, means, and different locations. Currently in Vietnam, the number of businesses providing transportation and delivery services using high-tech equipment to serve their business is still very limited, mainly used for office work. The development of the enterprise intranet on the global information system to update, exploit, check, and monitor all activities to serve business needs has not really become a business activity of the enterprise.
In general, logistics is one of the new activities of enterprises in the field of trade and economy in the East-West economic corridor in particular and Vietnam in general. However, there is no business activity that does not need to apply logistics. Even the smallest business needs to have facilities in a certain location, have activities to store everything needed for product production, and have means of transportation to purchase production materials as well as to distribute final products... Logistics activities and services have developed very well.
quickly. If in the mid-20th century very few businessmen understood what logistics was, by the end of the 20th century, logistics had been recognized as a key economic function, an effective tool to bring success to businesses in both the manufacturing and service sectors. Therefore, to avoid falling behind in the current integration whirlwind, the application of logistics is the optimal solution and can be seen as the application of advanced technology for Vietnamese businesses to overcome their weaknesses and succeed, especially for businesses in the EWEC. Recognizing the importance and benefits of logistics, all businesses - including businesses using services or businesses providing services - need to pay more attention to this field.
V. ASSESSMENT OF THE CURRENT STATE OF VIETNAM'S LOGISTICS ACTIVITIES ON THE EAST-WEST ECONOMIC CORRIDOR
1. Advantages
Vietnam in general, and localities in the East-West Economic Corridor in particular, have certain advantages to develop their logistics activities and services in the near future. It is important to turn these advantages into strengths that can be exploited, not just in theory. Some advantages can be listed as follows:
1.1. Geographical location
Vietnam is located in the Asia-Pacific region, where economic activities will be among the most vibrant in the world in the 21st century. As economic activities develop, the flow of goods and trade within the region and between the region and the world will also grow, creating opportunities for logistics development. Vietnam is located in the center of the East Sea, where there are busy sea routes with daily traffic of 150 to 200 ships. According to forecasts, in the early years of the 21st century, the volume of goods transported through the East Sea by Southeast Asian countries may double [7]. Location
Vietnam is located on the vital maritime and air routes connecting the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, Europe, the Middle East with China, Japan and other countries in the region. Vietnam plays an extremely important role as a bridge between regions, which is an extremely favorable condition for economic development and cultural exchange between Vietnam and other countries in the region as well as in the world.
The sea and coastal areas are an important front of the country to open up to the outside. The formation of a network of seaports and coastal roads and railways connecting to inland areas, especially the trans-Asian route and the East-West economic corridor, creates the ability to transport import and export goods to all parts of the country, especially to countries in the region and around the world. Localities of Vietnam on the East-West economic corridor converge a number of quite favorable conditions for the development of logistics, especially in sea freight forwarding, followed by road freight forwarding. Vietnam's geographical conditions in Quang Tri, Thua Thien - Hue and Da Nang allow our country to develop its strength in sea freight forwarding. These localities are the eastern gateway of the East-West economic corridor, the gateway to the East Sea and to all other seaports in the world. The seaport system here is planned by the State to be located on the North-South railway line and National Highway 1A, and is located on the international maritime route, which is a huge comparative advantage in logistics development. At the same time, the numerous river systems, connected to the sea, will be very convenient for the transfer of goods by inland waterways from the sea to the mainland for delivery. The road system will also make logistics activities easier, goods can be transported from these localities through the Lao Bao border gate to Laos to the Mekong sub-region market or from the Mekong sub-region to the world.
1.2. The force and power are stronger than before.
Entering the decade 2001 - 2010, Vietnam's strength has changed a lot. Resources such as labor, technical facilities, and various markets... have been and are being consolidated, ready to be exploited for economic development. Abundant labor force with increasingly improved qualifications, stable economic - political - social conditions, and increasingly open State policies towards creating a more favorable business environment for enterprises will be favorable conditions to promote domestic logistics development, moreover, reality also proves the attraction and appeal of large international logistics companies to our country's market.
Vietnam's situation has also changed. Today, Vietnam has extensive economic and trade relations with many countries in the region and in the world. The open-door and integration policy creates the possibility of expanding the market, having more partners to develop the economy and strengthening trade relations with countries around the world. Vietnam is the 150th member of the WTO, and at the same time participates in many regional economic cooperation organizations with an active role. And so, the volume of goods exchanged between Vietnam and other countries will increase, increased trade in goods will quickly lead to an increase in trade in services, including freight forwarding and logistics. In addition, investment and production activities of foreign investors in Vietnam are increasingly promoted. They form joint ventures with Vietnamese partners in the construction of export processing zones, factories, seaports, airports as well as many other projects. Therefore, logistics activities will also have great opportunities for development.
1.3. Innovation in perception
In terms of awareness, in recent years, the State, local authorities in the East-West economic corridor as well as enterprises operating in the logistics sector have had certain awareness of its importance and effects. Many State-level scientific research topics on