Nov 25, 2022

On the morning of 25/11, the Ministry of Industry and Trade coordinated with the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City held the "Vietnam - Latin America Trade Forum 2022" in Ho Chi Minh City.

Attending as a guest speaker at the forum, Ms. Vo Thi Phuong Lan - General Director of ASL Logistics shared about the current logistics practices  and contributed a number of logistics solutions to enhancetrade results between Vietnam and Latin American countries.

Throughout 2021 and early 2022, the biggest problem that import and export  businesses encountered was  the  spike in freight rates,  especially during  the C-19 pandemic, at one point the price of shipping a container from South America to Latin American countries increased from $ 1,200 to $ 10,000 or even $ 20,000. Besides, the delivery time and shortage of  empty containers is a huge challenge, instead of the transit time of about 40-50 days for shipments from Vietnam to ports in Latin America, the  backlog at transshipment ports from 4-8 weeks has increased  the transit time  to 3-4 months but the goods have not yet arrived. be destination port.

In the last months of 2022, this difficulty  has been partially solved when the freight rates have been reduced to $ 2,000 to $ 6,000 and  the shipping time has returned to the normal scheduled  shipping time, the rotation of empty containers has been much more convenient,  This is considered a positive signal for importers and exporters.

In the efforts of the Government to  accompany the Vietnamese business community and  Latin American countries  , import and export enterprises shouldmaximize market opportunities, promote new areas of cooperation with the advantage of free trade agreements,  in particular, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to which Vietnam and Mexico, Chile and Peru are members; Free Trade Agreement with Chile (VCFTA) or Trade Agreement with Cuba. Ms. Phuong Lan has contributed a number of logistics solutions to increase the competitiveness of goods between 2 markets of Vietnam and Latin America such as:

• Import andexport enterprises should change the conditions of purchase / sales to CIF instead of FOB in order to be more proactive in using appropriate shipping schedules, looking for  reputable logistics service providers to save freight costs and reduce risks in the shipping process.
• Swap (exchange) container between export and import goods.
• Control export / import surcharges, collect according to standard norms to avoid rampant fees.
• Optimize logistics costs by using integrated chain of customs declaration and domestic shipping services.

Within the framework of the Forum, more than 100 Vietnamese enterprises participated in direct connection with nearly 30 Latin American enterprises in the fields of agricultural products, food, textiles, health... to seek business cooperation opportunities. At the same time, Vietnamese businesses also had the opportunity to display and promote products in need of connection at the Forum, attracting great attention from Latin American businesses and partners.