HANOI, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam is set to develop a strategy to build a smart and green logistics system as the country has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2050, local newspaper Vietnam News reported Thursday.
The Vietnamese government has issued policies to develop the logistics and transportation sectors, supporting the shift towards lower carbon emissions while improving the efficiency and capacity of logistics services, said Tran Thanh Hai, deputy head of the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
As one of the highest carbon-emitting sectors, it is critical for the logistics services providers to accelerate their progress in decarbonization, said the trade official.
A World Bank research showed that road transport in Vietnam, which is heavily reliant on oil-based fuels, has contributed 85 percent of carbon emissions of the logistics sectors, followed by inland waterway transport with 10 percent and air transport with 5 percent.
However, the efficient business practice by road transport companies is incompatible with a low-carbon future.
According to the World Bank, 68 percent of local companies have truck fleets with the capability of transporting a cargo load under five tons. While the 2022 Logistics Report by the Industry and Trade Ministry found 13 percent of road transport companies are running an empty loading rate of up to 50 percent.
Local logistics companies also have failed to use technological solutions to improve their infrastructure, services capacity and network connectivity.
According to the Industry and Trade Ministry's report on logistics, only 31 percent of the warehousing companies analysts assessed have built low-carbon solutions at their facilities such as using solar panels for lighting systems, 27 percent have failed to disclose any plan for green transition, and 35 percent have not set any targets on environment management.
Vietnam has been ranked 11th out of 50 emerging logistics markets globally, according to a report released by global integrated logistics provider Agility, which forecast Vietnam's logistics sector would grow at a compounded annual rate of 5.5 percent in the period 2022-2027.
The country's domestic logistics services have grown between 14 percent and 16 percent to become a market worth around 42 billion U.S. dollars per year, said the Vietnam Logistics Business Association, adding that in the field of transportation, warehousing, postal services, and delivery, Vietnam has drawn in more than 30,000 enterprises, including international giants such as DHL, FedEx, and Maersk.
At the COP26 climate summit in 2021, Vietnam committed to phasing out coal-fired power by 2040. ■
