At the first ASEAN–Vietnam Logistics Forum, held on 30/7/2026 at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center during VILOG 2026, the message was clear: the biggest obstacle to digital trade is not technology, but trust. The forum's theme was "Digital trade and eBL: Building digital trust for the future of global supply chains."

Technology is no longer the main barrier

Speakers pointed out that the real bottleneck is not the existence of paper documents. The deeper problem is that trust is fragmented among parties, systems, and legal frameworks. A reliable digital trade ecosystem needs three layers of trust: identity, data, and transfer.

For a bill of lading, a PDF sent by email cannot automatically be considered an electronic transferable bill. In a digital environment, the functions of a paper original must be replaced by verified identity, data integrity, sole control, electronic transfer mechanisms, and auditable transaction trails.

Interoperability matters more than the number of platforms

The growth of eBL, eFBL, and other digital document platforms shows that technology is no longer the only barrier. The bigger challenge is whether systems can understand, verify, and accept each other's data. If every shipping line, bank, port, or logistics company has a good platform but they don't talk to each other, digital trade still won't run smoothly.

Interoperability has four elements: common data content and structure; mechanisms for verifying identity and authority; secure, auditable data exchange processes; and legal recognition of documents across borders.

ASEAN needs a common trust architecture

AFFA introduced a vision for building a reliable digital trade architecture for the ASEAN logistics community. This would connect digital documents, multimodal transport, trusted identity, secure payment, real-time tracking, data security, and decision support. However, this initiative is still being proposed and refined, and has not yet been officially adopted by all of AFFA.

An open, interoperable architecture would lower the entry cost for small and medium enterprises and avoid creating a new digital divide in ASEAN.

NCD expands the legal space

The United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts (NCD) creates a legal framework for issuing and using negotiable cargo documents in paper or electronic form, not limited to a single mode of transport. This expands the ability to represent and transfer rights over goods to road, rail, air, and multimodal transport.

One example cited at the forum: an eNCD document was used for a multimodal shipment from Chongqing, via Qinzhou, to Haiphong. But just because a technical transaction can be done doesn't mean all legal issues are resolved.

What it takes for eBL and NCD to succeed

From the presentations and discussions, several action points emerged:

  • Assess legal gaps for each function of a document: issuance, verification, control, transfer, use as collateral, termination, and dispute resolution.
  • Design pilot programs on a specific trade corridor or commodity flow, involving cargo owners, logistics companies, carriers, banks, and technology providers.
  • Agree on data standards and interoperability principles before choosing a platform, to avoid vendor lock-in.
  • Have a risk governance framework: cybersecurity, data protection, liability allocation, incident handling, insurance, and contingency plans.
  • Measure success with business metrics: document issuance and transit time, cargo release time, courier costs, data discrepancy rates, financing approval time, and partner acceptance.

The number of accounts opened on a platform or the number of electronic documents created cannot be the only measure.

What this means for Vietnamese shippers

The forum showed that the key question is no longer when paper documents will be replaced, but how Vietnam and ASEAN will design mechanisms so that identity, data, control, and legal liability are trusted across borders. Businesses should follow the next steps on legal frameworks and pilot programs, because these will directly affect their transaction costs and time.

For someone shipping out of Ho Chi Minh City, the takeaway is practical: watch for pilot corridors and legal changes. If interoperability improves, you may see faster document handling and lower costs. If not, you'll still be dealing with paper and delays. The forum didn't provide a timeline, but it made clear that the direction is set.