A cargo ship docks at Tiên Sa Port for unloading. The central city of Đà Nẵng will host the regional and global meetings of Freight Forwarders Associations on July 13 to 15. — VNS Photo Công Thành

ĐÀ NẴNG — Global logistics companies will gather at the Asia-Pacific Regional Annual Meeting of the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA) and the mid-year meeting of the ASEAN Freight Forwarders Association (AFFA) in the central city on July 13 to 15.

The Việt Nam Logistics Business Association (VLA) said the event will offer opportunities for Vietnamese logistics and exporters to exchange experience and information with 250 representatives of logistics service providers in the development of logistics services in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

It also helps build up business links between the Vietnamese and global markets in aviation, catering, hospitality and tourism through dialogue and discussions at the event.

Lê Duy Hiệp, chairman of VLA, said the annual meeting would be a rendezvous for local businesses seeking cooperative agreements with members of logistics associations in the region and the world.

He said the 2023 Region Asia Pacific Annual Meeting by FIATA, the AFFA Mid-Year and UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Conference for Logistics Service Providers will take place at Đà Nẵng City’s Furama resort.

He said a business-to-business (B2B) programme will be included in the framework of the conference, helping Vietnamese companies gain closer contact with global partners in expanding export markets.

Air cargo service is handled at the international terminal of Đà Nẵng International Airport. The city will receive 250 global logistics companies in annual meetings in the middle of July. — Photo courtesy of AHT

Hiệp said FIATA – a non-governmental, membership-based organisation representing freight forwarders in some 150 countries – has 109 association members and over 6,200 individual members representing 40,000 freight forwarding and logistics firms worldwide.

“It is hoped that these events will offer a great opportunity not only to enhance logistics business collaboration between Việt Nam and Asia Pacific region members but also to strengthen the friendship and solidarity among all members of the global logistics community.”

Đà Nẵng, the host of the conferences, plans to develop as an international-standard logistics centre for Việt Nam, ASEAN and the Asia Pacific region by 2030.

Last year, the city began construction of the newly designed Liên Chiểu deep-sea port as a key port in the development of a logistics complex including a new railway station; international-standard warehouses; an inland clearance depot railway and entry points to road connections.

The port will be a key entry point into logistics chains providing services for the central and Central Highlands regions, as well as the import-export exchange among ASEAN partners via the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) that links Việt Nam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.

The port, which will be built on a total of 450ha with an investment of VNĐ3.426 trillion (US$137 million), was designed to accept 200,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) cargo ships and container ships with loading capacities from 8,000 to 18,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs) as well as 30,000DTW liquid cargo vessels.

It could handle from 40 million to 50 million tonnes of cargo by 2050.

According to VLA, the central region has 20 deep sea ports, but the system only handles 55.5 million tonnes of cargo – 13 per cent of the country’s sea ports per year. — VNS