Hanoi (VNA) – ဣMost ofVietnam’s logistics firms may struggle to operate and sharpen their competitive edge in the newcontext if they are not quickly to engage in digital transformation.

Of the4,000 existing logistics firms, 95 percent are small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),and Vietnamese ones only account for 20 percent of the market share. Statisticsof the Vietnam Logistics Business Association (VLA) showed that COVID-19 has forced15 percent of logistics companies to suffer a 50 percent reduction in revenue, andmore than half of them to cut down 10-30 percent of services compared to 2019. In such context, information technology (IT) application and digital transformation areconsidered urgent solutions for logistics firms. To maintain operations,they have stepped up IT application and e-commerce. Dr Vu TienLoc, member of the National Assembly’s Committee for Economic Affairs, said thatlogistics cost in Vietnam remains high compared to others in the region and theworld. This delivers a blow to firms’ competitiveness and the economy as awhole. To addressthis issue, administrative reforms are necessary, along with strongerinfrastructure investment and especially new technology and digital transformationapplication in the sector. VLA Vice PresidentDao Trong Khoa underlined that logistics businesses need to foster digitaltransformation, blockchain applications and artificial intelligence to build a digitalplatform integrated with current logistics technologies so as to reduce costs. As a large number of logistics firms only handle some partsand services, they face difficulties in investment in and use of suitablesoftware, said VLA President Le Duy Hiep, adding that the firms should implement digitalisation from fundamental tasks. Given that most offirms in the sector are SMEs and lack financial sources, there must be incentivesand loans to support them in digital transformation and solutions, expertssaid. Digital transformationhas become an urgent task to help logistics firms recover and develop in order tosafely live with COVID-19, and authorities have been called on to complete a legalframework in this regard./.