The UAE’s “World Logistics Passport” initiative – World Logistics Passport (WLP) is one of 09 initiatives and 33 projects under the “Dubai Silk Road” Strategy approved by the Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai – Thailand. Dubai Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum approved on March 2, 2019 and officially launched on October 13, 2019. The initiative was announced and officially introduced by the UAE Ministry of Economy at the 50th World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January 2020, with the participation of many countries including Vietnam. The initiative has received the attention of many countries around the world.

WLP was built to reduce non-tariff barriers in international trade through reducing time and costs of operating logistics services. Initially, the target audience of this WLP is developing countries with rapidly growing economies in Asia, Latin America and Africa. WLP’s goal is to provide maximum flexibility and efficiency for businesses with operations in Dubai or with transit operations through Dubai. WPL aims to help countries in Asia, Africa, South America and Central America diversify trade in existing products and increase market share for key commodities among developing economies.

WLP is a global initiative, led by the private sector, designed to smooth global trade flows, open market access and deliver economic returns for its members. . Supported by key transport/logistics partners such as airports, seaports and customs, WLP provides financial and non-financial benefits to traders and freight forwarders to increase their trade. enterprise. WLP, the world’s first global freight program, benefits businesses by reducing their supply chain costs and ensuring that goods move faster and more efficiently. This is achieved through access to benefits such as faster customs clearance and priority processing, resulting in a 2-3% increase in trade value over a two-year period.

As of June 8, 2021 (Global Summit on Logistics Passport 2021), the worldwide WLP network has 23 countries registered to participate. Including, Latin America (6) – Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay; Africa (9)- Senegal, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana and Asia (8)- Kazakhstan, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Israel, Dubai UAE (Middle East). Large multinational corporations including UPS, Pfizer, Sony, Johnson & Johnson, and LG also participate in WLP.

The WLP loyalty program relies on cooperation between traders, freight forwarders and local organizations to provide additional trade in return for direct benefits. It is structured as a four-Tier Membership program: White, Silver, Gold and Platinum, with different levels of incentives. Each year, Level membership is reassessed based on trading activity and WLP Members may be downgraded or upgraded up to one Level. To unlock the Tiers, merchants and freight forwarders need to achieve 5% growth for Silver members, above the market growth of 10% for Gold members and 20% for Platinum members. When new Tiers are unlocked, WLP Members enjoy more benefits and greater time and cost reductions. Members start joining WLP in different Tiers as follows:

– Leading global trading companies, as determined by the WLP group, enjoy Platinum Tier benefits across all Centers.

– Top trading companies selected at Center level, identified by local benefit providers and the WLP team, are immediately registered at Silver Level within the first year.

– Selected leading trading companies at the Gateway level, as determined by freight forwarding associations and the WLP group, are immediately registered in the Silver Tier at the nearest Hub for the first year.

– Other companies join WLP in the White Tier and can be upgraded one Tier each year by achieving commercial growth targets in consecutive years.

At the Local Hub level, WLP governance is divided into three pillars. WLP Key Partners are entities, typically customs, port/airport authorities, seaports/port authorities and airlines, registered as benefit providers within the Centre. They sit with WLP representatives on the WLP Central Board. Both the WLP Partner Registration Agreement and the Membership Registration Agreement detail the conditions of the partnership and membership of the scheme.

On June 8, 2021, the 2021 Global Logistics Passport Summit held its first meeting. VLA President and Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan were representatives from Asia participating in the leaders’ discussion. The Conference adopted the Declaration:

– Agree on the importance of Global Trade for economic development, resilience and multilateral cooperation.

– Recognize the benefits of WLP as a private sector initiative to support businesses in cutting costs and time in doing international trade.

– Recognizes that WLP is an integral part of the global economic response to boost international trade in the face of the Covid-19 crisis.

– Declaration that WLP is inclusive and open to all countries and companies that meet the minimum requirements.

– Statement that WLP is a complementary initiative of international organizations such as WCO (Customs) and FIATA.

In Vietnam, with the support of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Vietnamese Embassy in the UAE, VLA signed an Agreement with DLW in early May 2021 and registered to become a member of the WLP Program. Accordingly, VLA is the coordinating partner of the WLP Program in Vietnam (Hub), representing the private sector. DLW will connect VLA members participating in WLP with a global network of WLP members to enjoy all the benefits of WLP. VLA Members will be able to join WLP for free.

Currently, DWP is continuing to discuss with airports, seaports and Customs organizations to sign further agreements to complete the Hub network in Vietnam. The UAE is considered an important gateway for Vietnamese goods to be transported into the Middle East, Africa, South America and Europe by sea and air. The UAE is Vietnam’s largest trading partner in the West Asia region, the total two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and the UAE in 2020 reached 4.3 billion USD, of which Vietnam’s exports were 3.9 billion USD. , trade surplus of 3.5 billion USD with main items being electronics and components, machinery and equipment, footwear, textiles, vegetables, pepper, rice… (Vietnam Import-Export Report 2020 ).  The cooperative relationship between Vietnam and the UAE has been developing well in recent times. Vietnam promoting cooperation with the UAE in the field of logistics services is necessary and consistent with Vietnam’s policy of extensive integration. in the current period. Participating in the WLP initiative, products, goods and services of Vietnamese businesses through Dubai, and also Hubs in the WLP system, are facilitated and supported in terms of customs clearance, aviation tax exemption, and reduction of taxes. Inspection time and loading onto means of transport are quick and free, reducing storage time by up to 48 hours. In addition, goods can be cleared before arriving at the port, which is expected to save time and costs for each customs clearance and shorten operating time.

To register to become a member of the “World Logistics Passport” program, please send an email to:  thobui@vla.com.vn

Nguyen Tuong – VLA