Vietnam logistics get a lift from surging trade

Vietnam can expect rapid growth in its already fast-expanding logistics industry, buoyed by an anticipated imports-exports boom from new multilateral trade pacts and a surge in domestic retail and e-commerce spending.

Its logistics sector may grow 20-24 percent this year, with 70 percent of 1,300 firms expected to rake in profits, according to industry data. That expected growth comes on the heels of a free-trade agreement with the European Union and the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is fuelling record foreign investment into factories.

Two weeks after the October conclusion of the TPP, a 12-nation bloc covering 40 percent of the global economy, logistics equities soared in Vietnam. Shares of shipping firms Gemadept Corp gained 28 percent, and Viconship was up 20 percent. Surging trade will be a Demonstrators sing songs in support of Argentina’s previous administration led by former president Cristina Fernandez, during a protest against President Mauricio Macri’s economic measures, in front of the Congress, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dec 17. Thousands of people of the opposition party demonstrated on the day Argentina’s new administration sharply devalued the peso and lifted

limits on buying foreign currencies. (AP) boon for shipping, rail freight and haulage firms, which are already benefiting from Vietnam’s booming e-commerce. Container volumes in and out of the country have increased about 36 percent since 2011, including some 1,700 containers a day to the United States.

DHL Express, the first international logistics company to set up shop in Vietnam, says the country is one of its fastest growing markets in the Asia-Pacific. (RTRS)