Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance, under Circular No. 40/2026, has mandated exemptions for several charges in the transport and logistics sector, from April 7 through June 30, 2026. The exemptions cover a range of charges, including vessel tonnage fees, maritime safety assurance fees, anchorage and mooring fees in designated water areas, maritime protest fees, and port entry and exit charges.
The policy, which is expected to support transport enterprises in the Southeast Asian country, will also reduce logistics costs, in addition to stimulating economic activity during the implementation period.
“In addition, inland waterway vessels operating between domestic ports and terminals will also benefit from fee exemptions. These include vessel tonnage fees, port and terminal entry and exit charges, and inland waterway reporting fees, costs that account for a significant share of waterway transport expenses,” the Circular noted.
The new policy is expected to provide a solid boost to Vietnam’s pursuit of becoming a major logistics hub in Asia and beyond. In 2025, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh signed a decision approving the National Strategy for the Development of Vietnam’s Logistics Services for 2025-2035.
This became a historic occasion, as the Southeast Asian country adopted, for the first time, a comprehensive, long-term framework to build a globally competitive logistics sector, while accommodating elements such as digital transformation and green and sustainable growth within the roadmap.
Since then, Vietnam has upgraded its approach toward the logistics sector, recognising it as a key economic sector with high added value and strategic importance to the Southeast Asian nation’s economic competitiveness.
Under its national strategy, between 2025 and 2035, Vietnam wants to ensure that the value added by the logistics sector reaches 5%-7% of its national GDP, growing at an average of 12%-15% annually. By 2050, logistics services are expected to contribute 7%-9% of GDP, maintaining a yearly growth rate of 10%-12%.
While 70%-80% of domestic enterprises are expected to use outsourced logistics services by 2035, the ration, by 2050, will increase to 90%. Vietnam also eyes bringing down its logistics costs to 12%-15% of GDP by 2035, and 10%-12% by 2050.
Apart from breaking into the top 40 countries in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI) by 2035 and the top 30 by 2050, the roadmap also envisions digital transformation playing a central role in Vietnam’s makeover as a global logistics hub, with 80% of businesses expected to adopt digital solutions by 2025, a ratio that will become 100% by 2050.