Viet Nam’s position on the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) in 2018 has risen 25 places compared to two years ago, jumping to 39th among 160 surveyed countries.

That’s according to the latest report from the World Bank (WB).

This is the country’s highest ranking since 2007 when the WB first started compiling the ranking.

Representatives from the Ministry of Transport attributed the result to improvements to “Logistics Competence” (up 29 places) and “Tracking and Tracing” (up 41 places).

The report stated that among lower-middle income countries, large economies such as India and Indonesia, as well as emerging economies such as Viet Nam and Cote d’Ivoire, stood out as top performers.

The top five logistics performers this year were Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Austria and Japan.

Among Viet Nam’s neighboring countries, Thailand was still ahead, ranking 32nd.

The LPI is released by the WB every two years. It is a unique benchmarking tool, providing the same measure for more than 160 countries.

It measures performance on trade logistics within a country based on six indicators, namely the efficiency of customs and border management clearance; the quality of trade and transport-related infrastructure; the ease of arranging international shipments with competitive prices; the competence and quality of logistics services; the ability to track and trace consignments; and the frequency with which shipments reach consignees within the scheduled or expected delivery time.

The LPI is a crucial part of global efforts to better understand logistics performances in the context of increasingly complex supply chains.

Thanks to the ranking, enterprises can get insight into logistics systems of each country, thus calculating the efficiency for their investment and business.

In 2016, Viet Nam ranked 64th out of the 160 countries in the LPI and fourth in ASEAN after Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.

Vietnamese firms mainly provide domestic logistics services such as transport, airport, seaport and warehouse and cargo handling.

Few firms provide international logistics services by acting as agents for foreign enterprises. — VNS