Vietnam's agricultural and seafood exports have posted strong growth in recent years, but gaps in the country's cold storage infrastructure could undermine efforts to raise export turnover to US$100 billion by 2030.
As demand for higher-quality preservation increases, cold storage is emerging as a critical link in the value chain, enabling businesses to store goods longer, reduce forced sales, lower costs and meet stricter technical and carbon emission standards in major export markets. Yet industry players say the current system remains unevenly distributed, creating inefficiencies and higher logistics costs.
Nguyen Thanh Tung, chairman of New Era Cold Storage Joint Stock Company (NECS), said that although demand for cold storage is high, facilities are largely concentrated in the South, particularly in Tay Ninh province, formerly part of Long An, where expressway and seaport connectivity offer clear advantages.
As a result, seafood producers from the Mekong Delta, the Southeast region and the Central Highlands often transport goods to Tay Ninh for storage, turning the province into a major cold chain hub. However, Tung described the situation as paradoxical: areas with developed infrastructure risk localised excess capacity, while key raw material regions continue to lack sufficient on-site cold storage.
The imbalance forces agricultural produce, seafood, fruits and vegetables from the Central Highlands and the Mekong Delta to travel long distances for preservation. This raises transportation expenses, increases the risk of spoilage and generates additional emissions across the supply chain.
The fruit and vegetable sector is particularly affected. Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, said demand for cold storage has grown rapidly alongside the expansion of deep processing and frozen exports. However, many large production areas, especially in the Central Highlands, still lack adequate facilities.
Without nearby storage, freshly harvested produce must be shipped to distant provinces for freezing and preservation, adding to transport costs and spoilage rates. According to Nguyen, this erodes profit margins and weakens the international competitiveness of Vietnamese agricultural products.
Industry representatives have called for more strategic planning of cold chain infrastructure. Cold storage facilities, they argue, should be prioritised in raw material regions with relatively sufficient transport and energy infrastructure, rather than being clustered only along major logistics corridors or near seaports. Aligning cold storage investment with the agricultural production map would help reduce losses, lower costs and improve efficiency.
Amid broader economic restructuring, Tay Ninh is positioning itself as a modern industrial–urban–service centre following recent administrative consolidation. Huynh Van Son, vice-chairman of the provincial People's Committee, said the development of large-scale logistics projects highlights this transformation.
Among them is the NECS project, which features an automated cold storage system capable of accommodating more than 110,000 pallets. Son described the facility as not only a modern logistics hub but also a symbol of bold investment and technological innovation, contributing to the creation of a comprehensive logistics ecosystem in Vietnam.
The project is expected to support agricultural and seafood exports — key sectors in Tay Ninh and the southern economic region — while generating employment and strengthening the province's position in regional logistics.
However, industry observers note that to achieve the ambitious US$100 billion export target by 2030, Vietnam will need a more balanced and strategically distributed cold chain network nationwide, ensuring that infrastructure keeps pace with the rapid growth of its agricultural and seafood sectors.
