30 years (1993-2023) Vietnam Logistics Service Business Association (VLA)

Vietnam Logistics Service Business Association (VLA)- formerly known as Vietnam Freight Forwarders Association (VIFFAS)- was established under the Decision no. 5874/KTTV dated November 18, 1993 by the Government Office. And the Decision no.07/QD-BNV dated January 4, 2013 of the Ministry of Home Affairs changed its name to Vietnam Logistics Service Business Association (VLA) to meet the development requirements of Vietnam’s logistics service sector, which was established in the 1970s, on the basis of forwarding and transportation services.

So far, after 30 years of growth, the Association has made strong progress in both quantity and quality of activities, truly representing and protecting legitimate interests of its members according to the principles and purposes of the Association mentioned above.

Only a few months after its establishment, from May 1994, the Association has been the only representative of Vietnam to become an official member of the International Federation of Logistics and Forwarding Associations (FIATA), authorized by FIATA to issue the FIATA Bill of Lading series and form and to certify its members to become a member of FIATA and to authorize to issue professional training certificates under the FIATA Professional Training Program in Vietnam.

FIATA President Babar Badat in his congratulatory letter to the Association on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of VLA’s establishment, dated October 5, 2018, wrote, “For more than two decades, VLA has worked closely with FIATA to promote freight forwarding and international logistics sector in Vietnam and in ASEAN countries... FIATA is pleased to cooperate with VLA in the past time and impressed by the achievements. On this occasion, FIATA would like to thank VLA for such great cooperation...”.

President of Singapore Logistics Association in his congratulatory letter for the 25th anniversary of VLA’s establishment also highly appreciated VLA’s role of representing and serving the Vietnamese logistics service business: “I am very pleased to work with you throughout the years. Our great relationship is always constructive to our cooperation at AFFA and FIATA in trade facilitation and developing human resource with logistics expertise. We believe that both associations will keep working side by side in the future to provide best services to our members and to the logistics sectors as well.”

In a letter dated May 5, 2021 from Nguyen Hong Dien - Minister of Industry and Trade to the Association, affirmed: “In the past time, the Vietnam Logistics Service Business Association has continuously grown and developed, demonstrating an important role as an organization representing enterprises operating in the field of logistics, as a bridge between enterprises in the sector and state agencies. I highly appreciate the Association’s positive contributions to the development of the logistics service sector in particular and the country’s economy in general”.

The above objective assessments also confirm VLA’s role as the national representative of logistics services.

The representative role of the Association has been effectively demonstrated through the Association’s activities in recent years, such as social criticism, international cooperation, association building and member development... They will be fully presented in the next specific articles.

(To be continued)