How do you view UPS’s business operations in Vietnam over recent years?

With a reliable and rapidly modernizing manufacturing sector, strong investor confidence, and a series of progressive free trade agreements, now is a time of opportunity and optimism for businesses in Vietnam. Indeed, data from UPS’s intra-Asia trade study shows that Vietnam’s share of intra-Asia trade doubled between 2011 and 2020.

UPS has been helping businesses in Vietnam capture opportunities over the last four decades. In the last three years alone, we have added multiple flights to our Vietnam network that enables businesses in Vietnam to reach more customers all over the world.

Meanwhile, we continue to work closely with our customers to make sure we are offering the services, solutions, and guidance they are telling us they need, for example by strengthening supply chains, digitalizing operations, and advocating policies that simplify the trade landscape.

We are proud to have played a part in supporting the country’s recent growth and are looking forward to a lot more success in the years to come.

What are the opportunities and challenges when investing in Vietnam?

In terms of opportunities, businesses need to be looking towards digitalization, particularly in the form of e-commerce.

The pandemic has accelerated the growth of e-commerce and it is likely that some people’s shopping habits will have changed permanently as a result. So, while on the one hand that was an immense challenge for us all, it has also become a big opportunity, particularly for small businesses. E-commerce has gone a long way to levelling the playing field too. Now all that a business really needs is an internet connection, something to sell, someone to sell to, and a means of getting their product to their customer.

We understand that for many smaller businesses, shipping internationally can feel like a daunting and complicated step to take. But it is our job to remove any complexity so our customers can make the most of the opportunity while still focusing on building a healthy, profitable business.

What are your plans for UPS in Vietnam over the next five years?

Besides highlighting the country’s remarkable growth over the last ten years, UPS’s intra-Asia study also shows that there could still be many more growth years ahead of us. In fact, Vietnam is well-positioned to grow its trade value with eleven top Asian markets from $326 billion in 2020 to $465 billion by 2030.

Digitalization, the building of strong and flexible supply chains, and continuing to create opportunities for small businesses will be essential to this potential being realized. As will the increased harmonization of trading standards, a reduction in tariffs, and the continued improvement of logistics infrastructure.

From UPS’s perspective, we will build on recent additions to our Vietnam network and continue to invest in a way that helps our customers. And we will continue to work with partners and policymakers to create a robust and resilient logistics sector that delivers for businesses, the economy, and the consumer.

We are also committed to helping both our employees and future generations of logistics professionals thrive and creating a business environment where people from across society have equal access to opportunities. For example, our own research shows that, when it comes to accessing opportunities, women experience different issues to those faced by men, which is why we launched the Women Exporters Program (WEP) in 2018.

The WEP aims to unlock the potential of women-owned businesses by providing the knowledge and skills they need to take their products global. We have held several workshops around Vietnam in recent months in partnership with the International Trade Council’s SheTrades movement, and in total the WEP has already helped 31,000 women-led businesses worldwide.

The Vietnamese Government has committed to helping US enterprises expand their operations in the country and creates favorable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises to take part in the US businesses’ value chains. What do you think about this commitment?

International trade is an essential part of creating a strong and resilient global economy. At UPS, we respect the desire of businesses and individuals to improve their livelihood via trade and we welcome measures that create positive and tangible growth opportunities for businesses around the world.

UPS’s global network forms a flying bridge across the Pacific. We have been connecting businesses in Vietnam, the US, and beyond for many decades and look forward to doing so for many more to come.