Vietnam is still lacking high-quality manpower to serve the future growth of the logistics industry, pushing the country to take more action soon.

The Vietnam Young Logistics Talents 2020 contest was officially kicked off in early August and will last until December as part of the effort to deal with the difficulty and to raise people’s awareness about the importance of logistics development in economic development.

According to a recent study from the Vietnam Logistics Business Association (VLA), from now to 2030, the country will need about 250,000 employees for the logistics service industry to serve business demand and the sector's development.

The aim of the 2020 edition of the contest was to unleash innovative ideas at the semi-final and final rounds.

The four-month tournament will hold the final round in Hanoi, promising a thrilling competition among excellent teams.

The Vietnam Young Logistics Talents competition has been launched in 2018 with support from the Agency of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, attracting the interest of students nationwide.

In 2019, the contest attracted 400 teams from 40 universities and colleges and education establishments nationwide. As expected, the number of participating teams will rise further this year, driven by the growth of the industry and due attention from universities and schools in logistics training.

Ngo Huong, a member of Logi team from the Banking Academy, which won last year's competition, said, “Despite being a newly-launched contest, its scale and professionalism has made it an attractive playground for students. Especially, the competition not only welcomes logistics students but also those with a strong interest in logistics. This was a motivation for us to win the award.”

As Vietnam integrates ever-deeper into the global economy, logistics has become one of the sectors with the highest growth in the past years, with 12-14% according the Logistics Vietnam Report 2019 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

At present, local logistics firms are still struggling to seek skilled manpower who have good skills, professionalism, and English skills. This is a challenge for Vietnam amidst the strong development of the industry.

2019 marked an important landmark in logistics training at universities as many universities officially opened a major in logistics. As of October 2019, among the 286 universities nationwide, 28 had a logistics major. However, the improvement has yet to meet the growing demand.