Awaken the transportation potential of import and export goods

 Although the transportation sector has many strengths, the railway industry has not yet fully realized its potential, due to lack of proper investment. According to experts, in the geopolitical context of the global volatility, "quickly" exploiting freight transport by rail can help bring Vietnamese goods deeper into China and developing countries with advantages in both cost and time.

The first train carrying over 200 tons of agricultural products in 2024 departs from Song Than for China.

 Rail transport is awakened

According to the Provincial Customs Department, Binh Duong is one of the most dynamically developing localities in the southern region with 33 industrial parks and 12 concentrated industrial clusters. Binh Duong currently has about 3,483 enterprises with regular import-export activities, ranking fourth in the country. In particular, the Chinese market and countries on the Asia-Europe railway transport route (Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and European countries) rank second among countries and groups of countries with import-export activities of enterprises in the province. Accumulated by the end of 2023, import-export turnover with China accounted for about 40% turnover of enterprises in the province, showing that this market plays an important role.

Nguyen Tran Hieu, Director of Binh Duong Customs Department, said that transportation infrastructure serving Binh Duong's import and export activities is invested and developed relatively synchronously, modernly, connecting with major seaports such as Cat Lai, Cai Mep etc. through the road transport system and international river ports. However, up to now most import and export goods to the Chinese market and countries on the Asia-Europe railway transport route are mainly carried out by sea, through two main seaports, Cai Mep and Cat Lai.

Binh Duong province has Song Than international intermodal station, which is the largest cargo station in the South, and is also a train establishment and train dismantling station, a technical station, with 13 loading and unloading lines and 7 cargo yards, which is a great traffic advantage of the province. However, in recent times, Song Than station has only served domestic freight transportation, has not participated in import-export activities, and has not yet exploited its potential. Therefore, the development of rail transport methods, especially international railways at Song Than station to China, will help logistics businesses have easier access to commodity production centers and raw materials to serve the development process, while creating opportunities for logistics services to develop.

Le Manh Ha, CEO of TBS Logistics Company, informed that the operation of the international intermodal train from Song Than station to China from September 2023 is good news for export businesses, especially businesses providing export services to China. Previously, to transport goods to China, enterprises had to transport them by road to Yen Vien station (Hanoi) or Dong Dang station (Lang Son), then go through customs procedures to open declarations for export. Now enterprises can open declarations directly at Binh Duong Customs Department and Song Than station to transport goods directly to China. This shortens time and costs of businesses.

Driven by expectations

Recently, on February 21, Vietnam Railway Corporation opened a train carrying exported agricultural products from Song Than international terminal to China. The train consists of 21 carriages, including 9 refrigerated containers carrying over 200 tons of fruits and foodstuff. This is also the first shipment in the year 2024 departing from Song Than (Binh Duong) for Zhengzhou, China.

Hoang Gia Khanh, General Director of Vietnam Railway Corporation, said that this is the first shipment from Song Than station to China, carried out under the Prime Minister's direction on strengthening connections and perfecting logistics system to stimulate consumption and export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products. The fact that Vietnam Railway Corporation chose Binh Duong to organize the departure ceremony of the international intermodal train carrying agricultural products exported to China has a large significance.

“Binh Duong is in the Southern Key Economic Region, the most dynamic development of the Southern region. As serving import and export activities, the province's transportation infrastructure is invested and developed relatively synchronously and modernly, connecting with means of transport by sea, road, air and railways. Binh Duong has Song Than international terminal, the largest cargo terminal in the South. In recent times, the province has paid special attention to rail transport activities to diversify forms of transport and improve the province's competitiveness," informed Khanh.

Truong Ton Vy, General Director of Ha Nam Au Viet Thong Company (China), said that Vietnam's agricultural products exported to China account for a very large proportion, but through railways accounts for a small proportion compared to roadway. “We hope that Vietnam Railways Corporation as well as relevant ministries and branches will provide more support to shorten the transport time from Song Than to Dong Dang station (Lang Son). This will help railway transport compete with other means of transport, attract more goods, and bring advantages to international intermodal transport," Vy hoped.

 Reported by Ngoc Thanh - Translated by Ngoc Huynh