Vietnam’s logistics costs have remained high despite years of expanding transport infrastructure. The biggest bottleneck is not a lack of roads or ports — it is that the transport system still operates in fragments, with poor connectivity and an overdependence on roads. In 2025, Vietnam’s import-export value reached nearly US$930 billion, and cargo volume exceeded three billion tons — up 14.1% year-on-year. These figures signal that the economy’s cargo circulation has entered a different league. Yet behind this growth, the most talked-about bottleneck remains stubbornly unresolved: the overwhelm ing dependence on road transport. At a Ministry of Construction conference on multimodal transport last week, Minister Tran Hong Minh acknowledged plainly that Vietnam’s multimodal transport system is riddled with problems. The market is lopsided: roads handle around 75% of goods transport, while railways — capable of moving large volumes — account for a mere 0.18%. Vietnam’s shipping fleet is undersized, leaving freight volume largely in the hands of foreign carriers. Inland waterways, despite their cost advantage, remain underdeveloped due to channel depth and bridge clearance constraints. And rail connections to sea- ports, inland container depots (ICDs), and major freight hubs are virtually nonexistent. What makes this more than a transport sector […]
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