Ho Chi Minh City, 10 January 2019 – A workshop to close out the European Union (EU)-funded project “Sustainable Freight Transport and Logistics in the Mekong Region” was held in Ho Chi Minh city today. The event was hosted by the Ministry of Transport and the EU in collaboration with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

Through the introduction of energy efficiency and safety measures, the project has achieved improvements in the reduction of fuel consumption by heavy trucks used in freight transport through high fuel savings and local green freight labelling standards for truck operators in Vietnam.

At the project closing ceremony, Mr. Nguyen Cong Bang, Deputy Director for Department of Transport, Ministry of Transport said: “In Vietnam, more than 100 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the transport sector have participated in the project activities. As a result, the participating companies have been able to improve fuel consumption savings by 11.70 per cent per 100 km for heavy-duty empty trucks and 11.4 per cent per 100 km for heavy-duty loaded trucks. Moreover, with support from the project, Vietnam has completed the Green Freight Standard and this was issued in August 2018 by the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam (DRVN) in line with the National Action Plan. To implement the Protocol 9 – ASEAN Cross Border Transport Agreement, Vietnam needs to build the capacity of drivers, and strengthen its policy, rules and regulations for the transport of dangerous goods. In this regard, the project has been instrumental in raising the awareness and capacity of traffic police and traffic inspectors from the enforcement authorities on transport of Dangerous Goods by road, which is based on the European Union European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR). The list of Dangerous Goods set out in the translation of the ADR 2017 will be used as the general list of Dangerous Goods for Vietnam. We are particularly pleased with the implementation of the project in Vietnam and the good cooperation we have seen between relevant government agencies, the freight transport SMEs, transport and logistics associations and service providers. This will facilitate cross-border trade and enhance economic growth in the future.”

Mr. Tom Corrie, Deputy Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation to Vietnam said: “The SWITCH Asia programme is one of the EU’s financial instruments to support countries in the region in promoting sustainable development. The cooperation also includes a strong, legally binding commitment to the environmental protection and the fight against climate change, with an explicit reference to the Paris Agreement. Throughout the almost 3 years of the project, various capacity building activities for both government and private sector have been implemented, among them training in Eco and defensive driving, improving the rules and regulations for Dangerous Goods Transport, supporting SMEs in accessing finance and establishing an incentive mechanism with the aim of ameliorating the environmental footprint of freight transport operations in the region. In Vietnam, the project has supported the Ministry of Transport to develop Green Freight Standard and Labelling which will encourage SMEs to employ green activities and improve business performance. The project has enjoyed the strong support of the Ministry of Transport, especially the Department of Transport (DOT) and the Department of Environment (DOE), the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam (DRVN) as well as national associations such as the Vietnam Automobile Transportation Association (VATA) and the Vietnam Logistics Business Association (VLA) in achieving successful results and these can be used as good practices to share with other countries.”