Green logistics increases competitiveness for import-export businesses

Can Tho City Department of Industry and Trade, Vietnam - Asia Net Zero Science and Cooperation Center (VANZA) and JGL Vietnam jointly organized the Workshop "Green Logistics - improving the competitiveness of import-export enterprises in the Mekong Delta" with the participation of nearly 300 enterprises in the Mekong Delta, southern provinces and Korean and Singaporean enterprises in the field of logistics and export.

Mr. Ha Vu Son, Director of Department of Industry and Trade of Can Tho City.

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Mr. Ha Vu Son, Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Can Tho City, said that green logistics has become an inevitable trend and a goal that every country is aiming for. Green logistics not only contributes to protecting the environment, minimizing the negative impacts of transportation and warehousing activities, but also brings long-term economic benefits, enhancing the image and reputation of enterprises. Applying green logistics to business will help enterprises meet environmental criteria, improve competitiveness and sustainable growth, and make an important contribution to import and export activities.

"In particular, for businesses in the Mekong Delta region, according to statistics, logistics costs account for about 16.8%, contributing 5-6% of GDP. If businesses properly recognize the role of green logistics, it will have great significance in the process of improving capacity for export goods," the Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Can Tho emphasized.

According to Mr. Son, the total export turnover of the Mekong Delta is 68 billion USD, in which Can Tho ranks first in export turnover. Every year, Can Tho exports 2.2 billion USD, of which 30% is revenue from rice exports. In the near future, this city will expand the airport into a large international airport with 10-15 million passengers/year and more than 10 million tons of goods/year. From those opportunities, green logistics solutions will contribute to maximizing and effectively developing the economy of the Mekong Delta in particular and the whole country in general.

Mr. Sang - Hoon Lee, Chairman of the Korean Government Energy Agency

Attending the workshop, Mr. Sang-Hoon Lee, Chairman of the Korea Energy Agency (KEA), said that as the climate crisis is intensifying worldwide and the global energy market becomes unstable, the need to establish energy security and carbon neutrality is increasing.

In recent years, interest in green logistics has increased rapidly worldwide. As the importance of sustainable development and environmental protection increases, the logistics industry is also introducing environmentally friendly transportation modes such as electric and hybrid vehicles to reduce carbon emissions, and green logistics is a key factor in building a sustainable supply chain.

“Korea and Vietnam can discuss this international agenda together and today's event will be a step forward in the long journey towards carbon neutrality,” Sang-Hoo Lee hoped.

At the workshop, experts all agreed that, in the general development trend of the world economy towards green, clean and sustainable, green logistics is no longer just a trend but has become an inevitable requirement to improve competitiveness, enhance brand image towards more sustainable and comprehensive development in business and trade activities of import-export enterprises in particular and the business community in general.

Also at the conference, delegates focused on discussing specific solutions for green logistics, including the use of renewable energy, carbon emission reduction, and improved transportation and warehousing technology. Green logistics requires far-reaching changes throughout the entire supply chain, from transportation, warehouse management to packaging and packaging. Domestic enterprises must promote innovation, creativity, and digital transformation; strongly deploy green logistics, smart logistics, and logistics that effectively serve the import and export of goods.

The logistics industry, with an average growth rate of about 14-16%/year, is forced to go green as the demands from international partners, buyers and consumers are getting higher every day. Companies in the industry must find ways to reduce emissions and move towards carbon neutrality if they do not want to lose orders. Currently, many large logistics corporations in the world have taken the lead in implementing a roadmap to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and switch to green energy earlier than the roadmap of committed countries.

The workshop highlighted the role of green logistics, in addition to the goal of reducing net emissions to 0% (net zero) that Vietnam committed to at COP 26, as an important premise and condition to help businesses improve their competitiveness in the global supply chain. Connecting businesses, sharing successful practical experiences of businesses applying green production models and green logistics.

Mr. Do Xuan Quang, Former Chairman of the Federation of Southeast Asian Freight Forwarders Associations, Former Chairman of the Vietnam Logistics Services Association, Deputy General Director of Vietjet Aviation Joint Stock Company.

From the perspective of an experienced manager in the industry, Mr. Do Xuan Quang shared: “In the logistics industry, ESG is concretized by the concept of green logistics. Green logistics simultaneously governs all three economic, social and environmental goals. These three goals do not exclude each other but on the contrary, they reinforce each other and create the premise for each other to develop. Every effort of green logistics helps businesses meet the increasing demands of the community and the market, but also creates new opportunities and helps strengthen their competitive position in the international market, contributing significantly to the formation of a positive business environment and promoting sustainable development in businesses”.

When those links are all “green”, businesses will be able to improve production and operational capacity, while forming a green, sustainable ecosystem around the business.

Mr. Do Xuan Quang emphasized: “The Government has policies to encourage green transformation, through national programs on green growth. However, in addition to the Government's macro policies on mechanisms and economics, the first thing to do is to change the awareness of logistics workers and the business community about the role, benefits and significance of green logistics to the development of individuals, businesses and society”.

Mr. Desmond Gay – Chairman, JGL Group Singapore.

Mr. Desmond Gay – Chairman, JGL Singapore Group shared his experience in implementing green logistics: “We operate with a commitment to sustainable development according to ESG standards, building bonded warehouses, central cold storage and other logistics infrastructure according to green criteria, to support import-export businesses in the region to achieve optimal efficiency. And always strive to improve the impact of business activities on the environment and society, and at the same time wish to invest heavily in the field of sustainable green logistics in Vietnam, especially in Can Tho and the Mekong Delta region”.

“In the sustainable development strategy and the transition to a greener economy, one of the important factors is green, clean, environmentally friendly production, energy saving and rationalization in production lines. Kido's success also comes from these transformations, especially the application of green logistics in exporting goods, meeting the technical barriers to export to the EU and US markets,” said Mr. Ma Thanh Danh - Deputy General Director of Kido Group.

Seminar "Green Logistics - a new direction for sustainable development and enhancing the competitiveness of import-export enterprises"

The highlight of the workshop was the discussion "Green logistics - a new direction for sustainable development and enhancing the competitiveness of import-export enterprises". Enterprises also gave their opinions that, in order to promote the green transformation of the logistics industry, the Government should consider having more policies to encourage and promote enterprises towards developing green logistics, especially small and medium enterprises. For example, there should be tax incentives, creating motivation and reducing costs for enterprises, encouraging the use of alternative energy sources in road transport, encouraging the change of transport modes according to the multimodal transport model, building carbon credits to protect and control greenhouse gas emissions, etc.

From the business perspective, it is necessary to quickly develop and supplement strategies to match the green and sustainable development orientation in current production and business activities. For businesses that have been interested in investing in green logistics development, and have even identified the goal of developing green logistics in their business strategy, it is necessary to regularly review the content of the strategy and the implementation status of green logistics development to make appropriate and practical adjustments.

Enterprises also need to take advantage of the support, encouragement and incentives of the Government and organizations to effectively utilize logistics infrastructure, creating competitive advantages in production, operation and transportation. Promote the application of technology, develop new energy sources and use environmental protection means to promote clean and efficient development.

Signing cooperation agreement on developing projects towards Net Zero in Vietnam.

Within the framework of the workshop, Professor Dong Hoon Hyun - Chairman of SEP Cooperatives Group. The unit preparing to invest in the first carbon-neutral industrial park worth 200 million USD in Binh Duong signed a cooperation agreement with Mr. Ho Quang Minh - Chairman of the Vietnam Asia Net Zero Science and Cooperation Center (Vanza) on developing projects towards Net Zero in Vietnam; cooperation in new energy, development of ecological industrial parks, infrastructure development and financial support.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/logistics-xanh-tang-kha-nang-canh-tranh-cho-doanh-nghiep-xuat-nhap-khau-333305.html