DHL Express says Vietnam looks set to maintain its top rank as the “Asian tigerin- waiting” following what it has assessed as the region’s strongest post-recession recovery. In tandem with the country’s growth, DHL Express Vietnam said its volumes grew more than 30 per cent yearon- year in the first quarter of 2010, with further growth by year end.

“The recovery for both Vietnam and DHL is being powered by intra-Asia trade,” said John Pearson, CEO, DHL Asia-Pacific and EEMEA. “Sixteen of Vietnam’s top 20 trade lanes are intra-Asia, all of which have rebounded strongly in 2010, especially those in Southeast Asia. After shrinking in Q1 2009, the US has also recovered, but Asia-Pacific trade lanes dominate both Vietnam’s imports and exports.”

Vietnam’s export revenue jumped 26 per cent year-on-year from January to April 2010 (excluding precious metals) and industrial output grew 13.5 per cent over the same period. Best performing sectors included electronics and computers, which rose 39 per cent to US$985 million, and exports of tools and spare parts, which rose 75 per cent to US$910 million.

“As a result of Vietnam’s positive attitude to foreign direct investment, more than 100 of our own global customers are already here and more are either setting up shop in Vietnam and/or increasing their investment in the country. As logistics are key to business and economic success, we go where our customers need to go. So we are increasing our investment in Vietnam to ensure that we keep supporting fast growing companies and industries that play a major role in the country’s overall growth,” Pearson added noting the company’s US$5 million state-of-the-art Ho Chi Minh Gateway that was launched in April.

According to the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI), Vietnam is the top logistics performer in its income class. The LPI shows that countries with better logistics performance achieve better GDP, trade growth and diversification, allowing them to “punch above their weight class”. Vietnam’s superior performance helped it jump 18 spots to rank 71st in the World Economic Forum’s Enabling Trade Index (ETI) this year, beating India and the Philippines.

“Vietnam’s logistics infrastructure is key to both continued growth and vital diversification in this post-recession global economy,” said DHL-VNPT Express Ltd general director, Tim Baxter. “The country is clearly committed to this as well as the production of higher value products such as electronics and computer components, so it’s good to see that Vietnam’s technology sector is leading the country’s recovery. Many of the top technology companies in Vietnam have already recovered to pre-crisis levels of revenue, and further growth is expected in 2011.

“Vietnam’s strong recovery is also reflected in DHL’s performance indicators; our top 50 customers in Vietnam have registered a combined year-to-date growth of more than 40 per cent in revenues over the same period in 2009. Top performers come from the telecommunications, garments, textiles and footwear industries.” Vietnam’s GDP is expected to grow between 6.2 per cent and 7.8 per cent per year between 2010 and 2014 as a result of several key factors: its large, young and highly-literate population, continued success of the government’s FDI-friendly Doi Moi policy, political stability, and its proximity to China, Indo-China and Southeast Asia. It joined the World Trade Organisation in 2007.