1.

Vietnamese architect uses traditional materials in modern works

Two designs made of tiles and bricks, traditional building materials of Việt Nam, have been representing
Vietnamese architecture at the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism that is being held until October 31.

"Ngói Space" and "Brick Cave", located in Đông Anh District on the outskirts of Hà Nội, are showcased in the
Guest Cities Exhibition section of the biennale.

Architect Đoàn Thanh Hà, the creator of two buildings, was invited by South Korean curator Choon Choi to
attend the event, together with many renowned architects such as Thom Mayne, Alejandro Aravena and
Norman Foster. The third edition of the biennale titled "CROSSROADS Building the Resilient City" continues
its exploration of the world’s cities. While some 50 cities were represented in 2017, then 85 in 2019, the
architectural event in 2021 welcomes contributions from more than a hundred cities from five continents.

“Being invited to attend the Seoul Biennale together with other big names of contemporary architecture around
the world is a great encouragement to me,” the 41-year-old Vietnamese architect told Thể Thao & Văn
Hóa (Sports & Culture) newspaper.

“I am aware of the responsibility of conveying a message for the whole of Hà Nội through what I have been
doing. So this occasion is very different from previous international awards that I have received.”

Titled "The Place of Bricks & Tiles", both "Ngói Space" and "Brick Cave" are located in the suburban district
of Đông Anh that is experiencing rapid urbanisation. There, vegetable gardens in the villages and orchards in
the town have been turned into terraced houses in close proximity to each other, wrote the biennale on its
website.

 “Conventional brick walls and tiled roofs have disappeared and given place to stuffy concrete boxes, glass
panels, and corrugated sheet metal roofs. In that context, H&P Architects managed to bring back bricks and tiles
in the vision and direct contact of humans, breathing fresh but familiar emotions and senses into architecture," it
said.

"Ngói Space" reuses 20,000 roof tiles from demolished houses on the building facade, giving it a distinctive
look and reducing construction waste and carbon emissions.

The building features cafes on multiple floors including the roof, and multipurpose spaces on the fourth floor. It
is compared by the architect to a tree and cave in its layering of space. The design creates sheltered spaces,
reminiscent of a big roof.

Meanwhile, "Brick Cave"  is a residential structure with two layers of porous brick walls that keep the house
secure but open to the outside world at all times. The design creates an atrium-like space, according to Hà and
his colleagues.

The project was nominated for the Building of the Year category in the Ashui Architecture Awards 2018.
Though it did not win, Hà won in the Architect of the Year category.

“Both buildings were built with the concept of ‘artificially creating places similar to nature’ or in other words,
‘creating artificial structures in a natural way,’” said Hà who is now working at H&P Architects.

Similar concepts have been persistently applied in his previous designs, such as the flower in "Blooming
Bamboo Home", the tree in Toigetation and forest in Cheering restaurants, which have won about 30 domestic
and international architectural awards.
“I have been fortunate to have met thoughtful investors who understand the concepts and remain patient
throughout the construction process during which manual work is critical, and requires constant face-to-face
interaction with construction workers and the designers,” he said.

The biggest impression in "Ngói Space" and "Brick Cave" is the use of bricks and tiles as their typical
feature. Previous works of the architect have also showcased his interest in the application of traditional
materials that are presumed to become obsolete in modern society.

“I think that some living experiences of our primitive ancestors still exist in our minds unconsciously and
therefore there will be ‘archetypes’ for building materials in architecture,” Hà said.

“Soil material is one of them. Bricks and tiles are derived from the earth, so they have always been very familiar
to the Vietnamese mind since ancient times. The study and use of materials of natural and familiar origin have
always been associated with ‘artificial in a natural way’ structures.

“In 'Ngói Space' and 'Brick Cave', I have considered materials (bricks and tiles) as small units to create the
whole of each project. Therefore, when completed, both have an impressive and unique but familiar appearance.
Once in it, we will clearly feel the ‘honest’ nature of the material, which was obvious before but has been
considered obsolete.”

According to Hà, modern architecture in urban areas now needs to take advantage of local experiences to
combat the adverse effects of urbanisation. Therefore, it should take into account three factors -- typical climate
and environment, friendly materials and appropriate construction methods.

“In general, I think the return to indigenous wisdom in construction works is in an inevitable trend with the
viewpoint: Looking back to the past to recognise and rediscover the core and hidden values of original spaces.
We then use those values to create spaces of the future,” he said.

2. Benefits of a strong đồng

The State Bank of Việt Nam’s reference exchange rate for the US dollar fell by 0.1 per cent at the end of 2020.

Analysts expect the greenback to weaken further this year.

The US’s Federal Reserve plans to keep its rates near zero per cent until at least 2023 and allow a period of
higher inflation, which is going to keep the dollar weak in 2021, according to VNDirect.

Meanwhile, the Chinese yuan is projected to stay strong since the world’s second-largest economy will continue
to perform better than most others in 2021.

Similarly, the strong recovery by the Vietnamese economy amid the Covid-19 pandemic will be an important
factor in boosting the đồng.

Việt Nam achieved a trade surplus of US$19.1 billion last year, the highest in five years, after exports rose by
6.5 per cent to $281.5 billion.

Its inward remittances topped $15.7 billion, the ninth highest in the world.

As a result, the country’s foreign exchange reserves zoomed close to $100 billion by the end of 2020.
The stronger đồng is also due to the recent accusation of Việt Nam as a currency manipulator by the US
Department of the Treasury, which has made the central bank more wary of using monetary policy tools to
regulate the exchange rate such as purchase of the greenback.

Benefits

What is the impact of the strengthening đồng on the economy?

One evident outcome is the country’s exports will become less competitive, especially agricultural products,
raw materials and unprocessed goods.

Obviously, imports will become cheaper. Another benefit is that servicing foreign debts will become easier both
for the Government and enterprises.

The Power Generation Corporation No 3 (PGV) is a typical example. In 2020 it benefited to the tune of over
VNĐ1.2 trillion ($52.2 million) from the strengthening đồng alone.

In past years it often suffered big losses when the currency weakened. In 2018, for instance, it lost VNĐ2.6
trillion.

Many experts also believe that a stronger đồng is likely to benefit the stock market.

They point to the fact that banks’ interest rate on dollar deposits has been zero since 2015. Yet, until last year,
many people continued with the traditional Vietnamese habit of keeping their savings in dollars as a hedge
against inflation, which once used to be rampant.

Once the love affair with the greenback ended, people began to switch to other asset classes like stocks and real
estate.

The stock market is expected to attract more of this money thanks to its sharp gains in recent times and analysts’
predictions it will remain positive in the long term.

They pointed out that due to the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, most economies shrank in 2020 and,
though it was one of the few countries to achieve positive growth, Việt Nam’s GDP only grew by 2.91 per cent,
the lowest rate in over three decades.

The Government thus has to keep easing policies to pump prime the economy, which would positively affect
investors’sentiments and the stock market, they said.

The Government’s persistent efforts to develop the capital market to lessen the dependence on bank credit have
also come as a boost to the stock market.

The đồng’s strength is helping attract foreign investment in the stock market since much of the exchange rate
risk is mitigated.

The outcome of all this is being reflected in the numbers: In January alone, 86,269 new stock trading accounts
were opened, up 36.4 per cent from the previous month.

This has been the theme of recent times. So many new investors have flocked to the market and trading has
increased so much that the 20-year-old system used by the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) has been
unable to cope with the load.
There has been several system failures, especially on days when the turnover crossed VNĐ14 trillion.

To resolve the problem, HOSE and the State Securities Commission have proposed increasing the size of the
standard lot from 100 to 1,000 shares and are encouraging small investors to switch to exchanged traded funds
(ETFs).

ETFs track indexes, sectors, commodities, or other assets, but can be bought and sold on a stock exchange like a
regular stock.

But industry insiders warned this could cause small investors to be eliminated from the stock market without
fully addressing the overload problem.

Minister of Finance Đinh Tiến Dũng rejected HoSE’s suggestion to increase the lot size, but approved FPT
chairman Trương Gia Bình’s proposal to allow private companies to participating into pilot settlment of
clogged trading activities in four months.  

The Vietnam Association of Financial Investors has called on the finance ministry to sack the HoSE bosses and
replace them with experienced foreigners to resolve the overload problem.

It also suggested equitising the Vietnam Securities Depository and bringing in foreign stock exchanges as
strategic shareholders of HoSE in charge of technology transfer and personnel training

3. Businesses’deposits at banks surge : Is it good or bad ?

Data recently released by the State Bank of Việt Nam shows that deposits by corporate customers at banks have
been increasing since the beginning of this year.

By May enterprises had deposits of VNĐ5,036,953 billion, or 3.26 per cent higher than at the beginning of the
year.

Individual customers had deposits of nearly VNĐ5,275,730 billion.

Corporates thus accounted for 49 per cent of total deposits, up from the average 40 per cent in past years.

The figure has surprised market analysts.

The COVID-19 pandemic is considered to be one of the key reasons for the surge in deposits by companies.

Analysts said the pandemic has severely affected some key economic hubs, especially HCM City, forcing many
companies to suspend their operations for a long time. Since their spending has ceased, they have put their
money in banks.

According to the General Statistics Office, around 85,500 businesses, a majority in the southern region, have
had to close down in the last first eight months, half of them for good.

Experts also pointed out another reason the increasing amount of money businesses have in banks: the strong
development of the capital markets.

The corporate bond market has in the last two years seen tremendous growth.
VNDirect Securities Company said in a recent report that the value of corporate bonds issued in 2020 was
nearly VNĐ437.7 trillion (US$18.87 billion), an increase of 38.8 per cent from the previous year.

The market is also expected to be robust this year as the Government has issued loose regulations to encourage
the market while also ensuring transparency and healthy development.

Banks’ active participation in the corporate bond market has also been also crucial in the issuance of large
amounts of corporate bonds. Thanks to this, in the first half of this year the corporate bond market grew
strongly despite the pandemic.

According to BaoViet Securities Company (BVSC), corporate bonds worth a total of VNĐ190.66 trillion ($8.3
billion) were issued in the first half of this year, up 6.18 per cent year-on-year.

In regard to the stock market, analysts said lower deposit interest rates at banks have persuaded individual
investors to put their money in other asset classes like stocks.

Another reason for the increasing number of new investors is that the steep fall of the local stock market due to
impacts on domestic economics that made 60 per cent of stocks have their market prices lower than their book
values

The fact proved that cheaper shares contributed to tempting for thousands of individual investors to participate
into the stock market, thus boosting both trading volume and value.

As a result, the number of new stock accounts has been breaking one record after another.

According to data from the Vietnam Securities Depository, there were  619,911 new accounts in the first six
months of the year, an increase of 58 per cent from the same period last year, which too had seen a record
number of new accounts. 

By the end of May the total number of securities accounts stood at more than 3.2 million, equivalent to 3.2 per
cent of the country’s population.

The booming stock market has also persuaded many companies to issue shares to both new and existing
shareholders. 

Thus, enterprises which had suspended production and could not spend money to start with became even more
flush with cash and ended up depositing more money in banks.

Data of some securities companies also showed that in the second quarter of this year the total money at the
accounts of securities companies’ customers was VNĐ86 billion, up by VNĐ21 trillion as compared to the first
quarter. And of course, this money was being deposited at the banks.

Analysts said that corporate customers’ deposits are mainly made into payment accounts or demand deposits,
helping significantly increase current account savings account (CASA) in banks.

The result is that, with the increase in CASA, lenders can lower their funding costs considerably since the
interest on CASA is only around 0.2 per cent.

Meanwhile, according to banking experts, the higher the CASA ratio, the better the net interest margin (NIM),
which enables the banks with higher CASA ratio to offer more competitive advantages as compared to the other
lenders.
A higher CASA ratio also reflects a bank’s strength in having a comprehensive product suit as many value-
added products and services are linked to customers’ current accounts, they said.

Techcombank, for instance, had among the highest CASA rates in the first half of this year of 55.1 per cent.
This helped the lender have the lowest funding cost among its peers, which helped it achieve the highest NIM in
the industry.

But analysts also expressed concern about the increasing deposits by corporate customers saying the decline in
production would have an adverse effect on the country’s economy.

It is because when businesses’ capital could not be injected into production and business operations but be kept
at the banks they could not provide products and services for the economy and also could not create
employment for workers. Then, their profits would be affected too.

4. Analysts divided on immediate future of property market

Will the property market crash or boom in the coming months? Industry insiders are unable to agree on this, and
come up with a range of replies.

The market has been up and down so far this year, making predictions difficult.

Phạm Thanh Hưng, vice chairman of CenGroup Real Estate Group, said in the first four months of the year the
market grew strongly thanks to massive cash injection by investors who were afraid of low economic growth
and possible devaluation of the đồng due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the fourth wave of COVID has hit many localities hard since May, severely affecting all sectors, including
real estate, causing a sharp decrease in transactions in the sector, he said.

According to the Việt Nam Association of Real Estate Brokers, in the first half of this year the volume of real
estate products offered for sale was down 17 per cent from the previous half, and the number of transactions
was down more than 12 per cent.

Nguyễn Thanh Hương, general director of Đại Phúc Land Real Estate Joint Stock Company, said property
developers faced a high risk.

With sharp drops in both supply and demand, the market had come to a standstill, she said. “There is nothing
we can do. We must accept it.”

Nguyễn Mạnh Khởi, deputy director of the Housing and Real Estate Market Management Agency, agreed,
adding the real market would continue to worsen.

Many other experts concurred, saying though the industry is not the worst affected, if the outbreak lasts much
longer it would face huge challenges which are created as relevant industries are affected seriously by the
pandemic.

They took the construction materials industry as a typical example. The prices of several building materials on
the market sharply increased in recent months, of which steel products had their prices up 40 per cent.

The high price hikes of the construction materials have affected the production cost of housing products, thus
making the selling of real estate products more difficult.
In reality, although many real estate enterprises have made great efforts in digital transformation, applying
several types of protech apps to push up online sales but the successful deals have still been down significantly.
The similar situation is expected to continue in the coming time.

Reasons

Social distancing and other stringent preventive measures are being adopted in many localities around the
country to curb the spread of COVID, making developers and buyers very cautious about making any decisions
at this time.

People’s incomes have been severely hit, and this has had a knock-on effect on property market demand. As a
result, most property transactions now are done by long-term investors, and speculators have disappeared.

Experts also expect the hospitality and commercial real estate segments to meet more difficulties in recovering
post-pandemic than the housing segment.

This is because the number of tourists, especially foreign, is not expected to increase quickly once the pandemic
ends since the global economy has been badly dented.

Retail properties will not be as attractive as in the past also because traditional retail now has fierce competition
from online models.

Serious difficulties caused by official policies, especially legal procedures, are expected to persist for project
owners and investors including individuals.

They are caused by overlaps and lack of consistency between legal provisions.

Some businesses said completing procedures to start construction of a housing project takes at least two years,
which often means missing investment opportunities.

This is not expected to change any time soon.

The housing market, especially the low- and mid-priced segments are expected to recover in the next few
months since demand remains very high.

However, only developers with high-quality products that manage to gain customers’ trust will succeed.

Lim Hua Tiong, CEO Frasers Property Vietnam, told Đầu Tư (Vietnam Investment Review) newspaper all
segments, especially housing and industrial products, would recover soon after the pandemic ends.

Angus Liew Bing Fooi, general director of Gamuda Land, said with its population of nearly 100 million, Việt
Nam always had high demand for housing, while limited supply had persisted for years.

The short supply had been aggravated by the pandemic by delaying approvals for new projects, he said.

He too expects the market to recover strongly after the pandemic due to continuing demand for housing and
developers’ readiness to launch projects.

Indeed, many developers like Phú Đông Group, Vạn Phúc Real Estate Corporation, Đại Phúc Land, and Gotec
Land have plans to sell thousands of units, mainly apartments, after COVID ends.
Analysts said to foster the market, authorities needed to quickly digitise administrative procedures, which
requires the use of technology and tweaking the legal framework.

They also want the Government to consider incentives such as reduction in corporate income tax and
registration fees to support real estate businesses.

They said banks needed to restructure and reschedule mortgages for borrowers who had been affected by the
pandemic.

Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyễn Văn Sinh said it was necessary to continue strengthening the legal
framework for real estate investment and sales by amending and supplementing the Land Law and Law on Real
Estate Business so that the difficulties currently faced by the real estate market would be removed and demand
would be met.

The construction ministry said real estate companies, especially developers and sellers, needed to scrupulously
comply with the laws while doing business.    

The market would continue to attract domestic and foreign investors, especially Hà Nội, HCM City and
localities in the southern key economic region, it added.

5. Small logistics firms find too many hurdles to 5. Doanh nghiệp logistics nhỏ gặp khó khăn chuyển
digital transformation đổi kỹ thuật số
E-logistics là một khái niệm còn khá mới đối với
E-logistics is a rather new concept even to the logistics ngành logistics tại Việt Nam.
industry in Việt Nam.
Sự cạnh tranh ngày càng gay gắt trong tất cả các lĩnh
The increasingly intense competition in all sectors due vực do toàn cầu hóa nghĩa là các công ty phải giảm chi
to globalisation means companies have to reduce costs phí hoặc phá sản, và để cắt giảm chi phí, họ đang áp
or perish, and to cut costs they are adopting new
dụng các chiến lược mới như quản lý chuỗi cung ứng
strategies like supply chain management and e-
logistics. và e-logistics.

Theo AMR Research, e-logistics giúp giảm 10% chi

According to AMR Research, e-logistics helps reduce
logistics costs by 10 per cent. That is why behemoths phí logistics. Đó là lý do tại sao các nhóm tổ chức lớn
like Dell, Compaq and Hewlett Packard have như Dell, Compaq và Hewlett Packard đã chấp nhận
embraced it. nó.

But e-logistics however face many challenges in Tuy nhiên, e-logistics phải đối mặt với nhiều thách
developing markets like economic and educational thức tại các thị trường đang phát triển như rào cản
barriers, lack of infrastructure, security and trust and kinh tế và giáo dục, thiếu cơ sở hạ tầng, an ninh và
privacy, channel conflicts, security problems, global lòng tin và quyền riêng tư, xung đột kênh, vấn đề an
terrorism, and geographical barriers. ninh, khủng bố toàn cầu và rào cản địa lý.
As one of the fastest growing e-commerce markets in Việt Nam là một trong những thị trường thương mại
the world, Việt Nam is considered a highly promising điện tử phát triển nhanh nhất trên thế giới, nên nó
market for e-logistics.
được coi là một thị trường tiềm năng cho logistics điện
tử.

Thương mại điện tử có trị giá 13,2 tỷ đô la Mỹ và tăng

 trưởng 15% hàng năm. Các nhà phân tích cho biết, sự
bùng nổ mua sắm trực tuyến và giao hàng tận nhà
trong những năm gần đây, đặc biệt là sự ảnh hưởng
Its e-commerce is worth US$13.2 billion and growing của COVID-19, đã tạo ra cơ hội lớn cho các nhà khai
at 15 per cent annually. The boom in online shopping
and home delivery in recent years, especially with the thác e-logistics.
advent of COVID-19, has created a huge opportunity
for e-logistics operators, analysts said.
Các nhà phân tích chỉ ra rằng, chi phí hậu cần hiện
Logistics costs now make up 10 per cent of turnover in
chiếm 10% doanh thu trong nhiều lĩnh vực, có nghĩa là
many sectors, meaning e-logistics activities could
potentially be worth billions of dollars in the coming các hoạt động hậu cần điện tử có thể trị giá hàng tỷ đô
time, they pointed out. la trong thời gian tới.

They said it is imperative for logistics enterprises to Họ cho biết các doanh nghiệp logistics bắt buộc phải
get a full understanding of the advantages of and the hiểu đầy đủ về những lợi thế và nhu cầu cấp thiết của
urgent need for digital transformation since most of chuyển đổi kỹ thuật số vì hầu hết trong số họ còn
them have been slow in embracing it. chậm chạp trong việc chấp nhận nó.

If they speed up their digital transformation they Nếu các nhà phân tích đẩy nhanh chuyển đổi kỹ thuật
would enhance their competitiveness and be able to số, họ sẽ tăng cường khả năng cạnh tranh và có thể
penetrate overseas markets after the pandemic ends, thâm nhập thị trường nước ngoài sau khi đại dịch kết
they said. thúc, họ cho biết.

Chi phí logistics cao ảnh hưởng đến khả năng cạnh
tranh hàng hóa và dịch vụ, do đó gây trở ngại cho các
High logistics costs affect the competitiveness of
doanh nghiệp Việt Nam tìm cách thâm nhập thị trường
goods and services, thus posing an obstacle for
Vietnamese businesses seeking to enter new markets. mới.

Chi phí hậu cần của nước này tính theo tỷ lệ GDP cao
The country’s logistics costs as a ratio of GDP are
six percentage points higher than Thailand’s, sáu điểm phần trăm so với Thái Lan, cao hơn Trung
seven percentage points higher than China’s and 12 Quốc bảy điểm phần trăm và hơn Malaysia 12 điểm
percentage points higher than Malaysia’s. phần trăm.

They are around 20 per cent of GDP while globally Các điểm phần trăm chiếm khoảng 20% GDP trong
they range between 9 per cent and 14 per cent. khi trên toàn cầu chúng dao động từ 9% đến 14%.

Chi phí e-logistics tăng cao

Tuy nhiên, các chuyên gia cho rằng ngành logistics

High costs of e-logistics
Việt Nam sẽ rất khó khai thác lợi thế của e-logistics vì
But experts said the Vietnamese logistics industry công nghệ đóng vai trò quan trọng nhưng giá thành
would find it very difficult to exploit the advantages of cao.
e-logistics since technology plays an important role
but is high-priced. Một công ty đang tìm cách thâm nhập vào chuỗi cung
ứng dịch vụ hậu cần điện tử thì cần đầu tư hàng triệu
A company seeking to foray into e-logistics services đô la vào hệ thống phân loại hàng hóa tự động, có thể
supply chain needs to invest millions of dollars into xử lý hàng triệu đơn đặt hàng thuộc nhiều danh mục
 và đến nhiều điểm giao hàng khác nhau nhưng vẫn
automatic commodity classification systems, which đảm bảo việc vận chuyển đến đúng khách hàng và
are able to process millions of orders in multiple đúng thời điểm.
categories and to many different delivery destinations
but still ensure deliveries are done to the right Họ cũng cần một số giải pháp phần mềm quan trọng
customers and at the right time. có giá hàng trăm tỷ đồng.
They also need some vital software solutions that cost Hệ thống quản lý đơn đặt hàng quản lý vòng đời của
hundreds of billions of đồng. đơn đặt hàng.
An order management system manages the lifecycle of Hệ thống quản lý kho là một giải pháp phần mềm đối
an order. chiếu toàn bộ hàng tồn kho của một doanh nghiệp và
quản lý các hoạt động thực hiện chuỗi cung ứng từ
A warehouse management system is a software
solution that collates a business’ entire inventory and trung tâm phân phối đến các kệ hàng.
manages supply chain fulfilment operations from the
Hệ thống quản lý vận tải đóng vai trò như một nền
distribution center to store shelves.
tảng hậu cần sử dụng công nghệ để giúp các doanh
A transportation management system serves as a nghiệp lập kế hoạch, thực hiện và tối ưu hóa quá trình
logistics platform that uses technology to help vận chuyển vật chất của hàng hóa và đảm bảo các lô
businesses plan, execute and optimise the physical hàng tuân thủ và có tài liệu phù hợp.
movement of goods and makes sure shipments are
compliant and have proper documentation. Hoạch định nguồn lực doanh nghiệp (ERP) là phần
mềm mà các tổ chức sử dụng để quản lý các hoạt động
Enterprise resources planning (ERP) is software that kinh doanh hàng ngày như kế toán, mua sắm, quản lý
organisations use to manage day-to-day business dự án, quản lý rủi ro và tuân thủ cũng như các hoạt
activities such as accounting, procurement, project
động của chuỗi cung ứng.
management, risk management and compliance, and
supply chain operations. Khoản chi phí lớn cần phát triển cơ sở hạ tầng CNTT
để tạo ra rào cản tài chính cho các công ty logistics
The huge costs needed to develop such IT
infrastructure create a financial barrier for local trong nước, đặc biệt là các doanh nghiệp vừa và nhỏ
logistics firms, especially small and medium-sized (SME).
enterprises (SMEs).
Một thách thức lớn khác đối với các doanh nghiệp, đặc
Another big challenge for the firms, especially SMEs, biệt là doanh nghiệp vừa và nhỏ, là cần phải có mạng
to surmount is the need to have a network of branches, lưới chi nhánh, đại lý và kho hàng trên cả nước.
agents and warehouses across the country.
E-logistics cũng yêu cầu nguồn nhân lực chất lượng,
E-logistics also requires quality human resources who có khả năng thích ứng với công nghệ số.
are able to adapt to digital technologies.
Một số người trong ngành cũng đồng tình với các nhà
Some industry insiders concurred with the analysts, phân tích, thừa nhận rằng việc thiếu năng lực tài chính,
admitting that lack of financial capacity, human nguồn nhân lực và công nghệ phù hợp đã ngăn cản các
resources and suitable technologies prevent công ty logistics Việt Nam áp dụng chuyển đổi số.
Vietnamese logistics companies from adopting digital
transformation.  Chỉ một số phần mềm quản lý logistics toàn cầu được
sử dụng tại Việt Nam, khiến các doanh nghiệp trong
Only some global logistics management software is nước khó xác định được phần mềm tối ưu, họ cho biết.
used in Việt Nam, making it difficult for domestic
firms to identify optimal ones, they said. 
 Do đó, khoảng 40% phần mềm được sử dụng để quản
Thus, around 40 per cent of the software used for lý giao nhận quốc tế, quản lý kho hàng, quản lý vận
international forwarding management, warehouse tải, trao đổi dữ liệu điện tử và khai báo hải quan vẫn
management, transport management, electronic data còn rất cơ bản.
exchange, and customs declaration remains very basic.
Bên cạnh đó, các nhà quản lý của các công ty hậu cần
Besides, logistics companies’managers are not không tự tin về bảo mật dữ liệu và thanh toán, do dự
confident about data and payment security and so
khi chuyển sang kỹ thuật số.
hesitate to go digital.
Theo Hiệp hội Doanh nghiệp Logistics Việt Nam,
According to the Việt Nam Logistics Business
không có nhiều doanh nghiệp áp dụng các giải pháp
Association, not many firms adopt integrated solutions
in their logistics and supply chains. tích hợp trong chuỗi cung ứng và hậu cần.

Cả nước hiện có khoảng 30.000 doanh nghiệp cung

The country now has around 30,000 businesses
providing logistics services, 90 per cent of which are cấp dịch vụ logistics, 90% trong số đó là doanh nghiệp
SMEs with a capital of less VNĐ10 billion (some vừa và nhỏ với số vốn dưới 10 tỷ đồng (khoảng
$434,780) and another 5 per cent with VNĐ10-20 434.780 USD) và 5% khác là 10-20 tỷ đồng.
billion.
Do đó, chỉ một số công ty lớn có thể đáp ứng các điều
Only a few large companies can therefore meet the kiện tham gia vào chuỗi cung ứng e-logistics, bao gồm
conditions for participating in e-logistics supply các công ty đa quốc gia DHL và Fedex, Viettel Post và
chains, including multinationals DHL and Fedex, Vietnam Post.
Viettel Post and Vietnam Post.
Các nhà phân tích cho rằng với thương mại điện tử
Analysts said with e-commerce growing rapidly the đang phát triển nhanh chóng, Chính phủ và các doanh
Government and logistics firms need to soon have nghiệp logistics cần sớm có những chương trình xúc
action programmes to sustain Vietnamese logistics
tiến để duy trì thị phần của các doanh nghiệp logistics
firms’s market shares right in the domestic market.
Việt Nam ngay tại thị trường nội địa.
Preferential policies in terms of taxes, land rentals and
Cần có các chính sách ưu đãi về thuế, tiền thuê đất và
interest on loans are needed to enable domestic
logistics firms to build warehouses and commodity lãi vay để tạo điều kiện cho các doanh nghiệp logistics
classification systems so that they could compete with trong nước xây dựng kho hàng và hệ thống phân loại
large foreign rivals. hàng hóa Do đó, họ có thể cạnh tranh với các đối thủ
lớn của nước ngoài.
Vietnam Post and Viettel Post have a competitive
advantage in the form of delivery networks with large Bưu chính Việt Nam và Bưu chính Viettel có lợi thế
warehouses across the country, and would be able to cạnh tranh về hình thức mạng lưới chuyển phát với
compete with foreign rivals if they are more proactive kho bãi rộng khắp cả nước, có thể cạnh tranh với các
with regard to technology, human resource training đối thủ nước ngoài nếu họ chủ động hơn về công nghệ,
and improving corporate governance, they said.
đào tạo nguồn nhân lực và nâng cao năng lực quản trị
They also said the Government should encourage doanh nghiệp, họ cho biết.
leading IT firms to develop e-logistics administration
software and sell them to logistics SMEs at reasonable Họ cũng cho biết Chính phủ nên khuyến khích các
costs, thus enabling them to enter e-logistics supply công ty CNTT hàng đầu phát triển phần mềm quản trị
chains. hậu cần điện tử và bán chúng cho các doanh nghiệp
vừa và nhỏ trong lĩnh vực hậu cần với chi phí hợp lý,
 từ đó cho phép họ tham gia vào chuỗi cung ứng hậu
cần điện tử.

They said logistics SMEs that cannot invest in Họ cho biết các doanh nghiệp vừa và nhỏ dịch vụ hậu
technology should focus on niche markets with small cần không thể đầu tư vào công nghệ mà nên tập trung
orders and single products to serve retail enterprises vào các thị trường ngách với các đơn hàng nhỏ và các
and sellers on social networks and mobile devices.
sản phẩm đơn lẻ để phục vụ các doanh nghiệp bán lẻ
By this way they are likely to survive since the quality và người bán trên mạng xã hội và thiết bị di động.
requirements from such customers are not too high for
Bằng cách này, họ có thể tồn tại trên thị trường vì yêu
them to meet, they said.
cầu chất lượng từ những khách hàng như vậy không
SMEs should learn from the experience of large quá cao để doanh nghiệp vừa và nhỏ đáp ứng, họ cho
logistics players who have achieved digital biết.
transformation, and meanwhile should start getting
acquainted with e-contracts, digital payment of taxes Các doanh nghiệp vừa và nhỏ nên học hỏi kinh
and digitisation of all business activities, they nghiệm từ các công ty hậu cần lớn đã đạt được chuyển
suggested. đổi kỹ thuật số, đồng thời nên bắt đầu làm quen với
hợp đồng điện tử, thanh toán thuế kỹ thuật số và số
To achieve digitial transformation, they must work hóa tất cả các hoạt động kinh doanh, họ đề xuất.
closely with industry business groups and universities
to retrain their human resources to operate digital Để đạt được chuyển đổi số hóa, các doanh nghiệp vừa
logistics systems, they added và nhỏ phải hợp tác chặt chẽ với các nhóm doanh
nghiệp trong ngành và các trường đại học nhằm đào
tạo lại nguồn nhân lực của họ để vận hành các hệ
thống hậu cần kỹ thuật số, họ cho biết thêm.

5. Small logistics firms find too many hurdles to digital transformation

E-logistics is a rather new concept even to the logistics industry in Việt Nam.

The increasingly intense competition in all sectors due to globalisation means companies have to reduce costs or
perish, and to cut costs they are adopting new strategies like supply chain management and e-logistics.

According to AMR Research, e-logistics helps reduce logistics costs by 10 per cent. That is why behemoths like
Dell, Compaq and Hewlett Packard have embraced it.

But e-logistics however face many challenges in developing markets like economic and educational barriers,
lack of infrastructure, security and trust and privacy, channel conflicts, security problems, global terrorism, and
geographical barriers.

As one of the fastest growing e-commerce markets in the world, Việt Nam is considered a highly promising
market for e-logistics.

Its e-commerce is worth US$13.2 billion and growing at 15 per cent annually. The boom in online shopping and
home delivery in recent years, especially with the advent of COVID-19, has created a huge opportunity for e-
logistics operators, analysts said.
Logistics costs now make up 10 per cent of turnover in many sectors, meaning e-logistics activities could
potentially be worth billions of dollars in the coming time, they pointed out.

They said it is imperative for logistics enterprises to get a full understanding of the advantages of and the urgent
need for digital transformation since most of them have been slow in embracing it.

If they speed up their digital transformation they would enhance their competitiveness and be able to penetrate
overseas markets after the pandemic ends, they said.

High logistics costs affect the competitiveness of goods and services, thus posing an obstacle for Vietnamese
businesses seeking to enter new markets.

The country’s logistics costs as a ratio of GDP are six percentage points higher than Thailand’s,
seven percentage points higher than China’s and 12 percentage points higher than Malaysia’s.

They are around 20 per cent of GDP while globally they range between 9 per cent and 14 per cent.

High costs of e-logistics

But experts said the Vietnamese logistics industry would find it very difficult to exploit the advantages of e-
logistics since technology plays an important role but is high-priced.

A company seeking to foray into e-logistics services supply chain needs to invest millions of dollars into
automatic commodity classification systems, which are able to process millions of orders in multiple categories
and to many different delivery destinations but still ensure deliveries are done to the right customers and at the
right time.

They also need some vital software solutions that cost hundreds of billions of đồng.

An order management system manages the lifecycle of an order.

A warehouse management system is a software solution that collates a business’ entire inventory and manages
supply chain fulfilment operations from the distribution center to store shelves.

A transportation management system serves as a logistics platform that uses technology to help businesses plan,
execute and optimise the physical movement of goods and makes sure shipments are compliant and have proper
documentation.

Enterprise resources planning (ERP) is software that organisations use to manage day-to-day business activities
such as accounting, procurement, project management, risk management and compliance, and supply chain
operations.

The huge costs needed to develop such IT infrastructure create a financial barrier for local logistics firms,
especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Another big challenge for the firms, especially SMEs, to surmount is the need to have a network of branches,
agents and warehouses across the country.

E-logistics also requires quality human resources who are able to adapt to digital technologies.
Some industry insiders concurred with the analysts, admitting that lack of financial capacity, human resources
and suitable technologies prevent Vietnamese logistics companies from adopting digital transformation. 

Only some global logistics management software is used in Việt Nam, making it difficult for domestic firms to
identify optimal ones, they said. 

Thus, around 40 per cent of the software used for international forwarding management, warehouse
management, transport management, electronic data exchange, and customs declaration remains very basic.

Besides, logistics companies’managers are not confident about data and payment security and so hesitate to go
digital.

According to the Việt Nam Logistics Business Association, not many firms adopt integrated solutions in their
logistics and supply chains.

The country now has around 30,000 businesses providing logistics services, 90 per cent of which are SMEs
with a capital of less VNĐ10 billion (some $434,780) and another 5 per cent with VNĐ10-20 billion.

Only a few large companies can therefore meet the conditions for participating in e-logistics supply chains,
including multinationals DHL and Fedex, Viettel Post and Vietnam Post.

Analysts said with e-commerce growing rapidly the Government and logistics firms need to soon have action
programmes to sustain Vietnamese logistics firms’s market shares right in the domestic market.

Preferential policies in terms of taxes, land rentals and interest on loans are needed to enable domestic logistics
firms to build warehouses and commodity classification systems so that they could compete with large foreign
rivals.

Vietnam Post and Viettel Post have a competitive advantage in the form of delivery networks with large
warehouses across the country, and would be able to compete with foreign rivals if they are more proactive with
regard to technology, human resource training and improving corporate governance, they said.

They also said the Government should encourage leading IT firms to develop e-logistics administration
software and sell them to logistics SMEs at reasonable costs, thus enabling them to enter e-logistics supply
chains.

They said logistics SMEs that cannot invest in technology should focus on niche markets with small orders and
single products to serve retail enterprises and sellers on social networks and mobile devices.

By this way they are likely to survive since the quality requirements from such customers are not too high for
them to meet, they said.

SMEs should learn from the experience of large logistics players who have achieved digital transformation, and
meanwhile should start getting acquainted with e-contracts, digital payment of taxes and digitisation of all
business activities, they suggested.

To achieve digitial transformation, they must work closely with industry business groups and universities to
retrain their human resources to operate digital logistics systems, they added