Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s aviation sector must use advancedtechnologies such as e-commerce for its management, operations and business asit is a trend in global aviation transport, experts said in HCM City.

Speaking at a recent international conference and exhibition on Air FreightLogistics Vietnam, Stanlay Lim, International Air Transportation Association(IATA)’s regional President for Asia Pacific, said that new technology wouldhelp reduce the cost of logistics, baodientu.vn reported.

According to the IATA, Vietnam’s aviation market is the seventh fastest-growingin the world from 2013 to 2017, with an annual expected growth rate of 6.9percent and 6.6 percent for international passengers and freight, respectively.By the end of 2016, the domestic aviation market had attracted 50 foreignairlines from 25 countries to operate flights in the country.

Participants at the conference agreed that in the past few years, theVietnamese Government had devoted a large budget and Official DevelopmentAssistance (ODA) funds for improving traffic infrastructure in order to createfavourable conditions for the development of goods transport and logisticsservices. The airport system had also been upgraded and expanded, with modernloading facilities.

The Government’s macro policies, as well as reforms in sectors such astransport, customs and taxation have been paving the way for the development ofthe logistics sector in general, and the aviation sector in particular.

Do Xuan Quang, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Logistics Business Association(VLA), said export had increased rapidly in recent years and had triggered agreater need for aviation transport.

Meanwhile, the volume of goods transported by domestic airlines has also grown.In 2016, of the 1.4 million tonnes of goods transported by airlines, domestictransport occupied around one million tonnes. Several big clients such astelecom group Viettel, crossed 60 tonnes a week, while the Vietnam Posts andTelecommunications Group was at nearly 100 tonnes per week.

Quang, who is also General Director of Vietjet Cargo, said the aviation sectorhad not developed in accordance with its potential. He pointed out that therewas no association to create a logistics supply chain. The connection betweenproduction and consumption and among transport vehicles was also weak in theVietnamese aviation market.

In addition, the domestic aviation sector is facing challenges caused by theglobal economic crisis, from which big markets such as the US and EU have notrecovered fully. The fuel price is still high.

Experts said that though domestic airlines were posting a fast growth rate,they were still not capable of competing with international airlines firms onbig orders.

Huseyin Ceyhan, Turkish Airlines’ Asia-Pacific Regional Director, said thelogistics chain would not only increase corporate profits, but it would alsohelp aviation businesses to compete with other firms in the region and theworld.

At the conference, participants agreed that to create a global logistics chain,the Government has to set up an association and joint venture among businessesas it would help meet the increasing demand of passengers and reduce cost andtransport time, among other things.

The conference was held jointly by VLA and the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnamand saw the participation of representatives from ministries of transport andindustry and trade, general department of customs, as well as 20 speakers fromother sectors.-VNA