According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, from February 28, 2026, the US and Israel launched a large-scale military air strike targeting Iran, marking a serious escalation in regional tensions in the Middle East.
Within 24 - 48 hours after the airstrike, all parties spoke out that they had prepared for a multi-day war scenario. Military attacks and counter-attacks have caused serious instability, creating a high-risk environment for transportation, international trade and global supply chains.
It is predicted that consumer goods prices, fuel prices, and world oil prices will fluctuate in an increasing direction in the coming time, causing indirect and multidimensional negative impacts on Vietnam's production and import-export activities in general as well as with the Middle East region in particular.
For logistics services, increased fuel prices will push up sea and air freight rates and affect freight routes for countries in the Gulf region.
Many countries in the Middle East region have restricted or closed their airspace due to war security, leading to transport and cargo flights having to divert, extending flight times and increasing logistics efficiency costs. Transportation through the Strait of Hormuz has been almost stalled after airstrikes on Iran by the US and Israel. Iran warned ships that passing through Hormuz is currently unsafe, forcing shipping lines to stay away from the war zone or change routes, causing a significant increase in transportation time and fuel costs.
Faced with the above situation, the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) requests import-export industry associations and logistics-related associations to closely monitor the developments of the situation, regularly exchange information with relevant state management agencies to update information to members to proactively plan production, import-export and cargo transportation plans. From there, avoid causing congestion and minimize negative impacts due to tensions from the current conflict between Israel, the US and Iran. At the same time, contribute to improving flexibility and resilience to changes in the international business environment related to Vietnamese businesses when unwanted incidents occur in the future.
Diversify the sources of goods supply as well as find other markets with similar demand sources to choose alternative options, minimize the impact when export activities to Israel, Iran and the Middle East face difficulties, and have long-term plans to proactively respond to similar incidents in the future.
When negotiating and signing purchase and sale contracts, it is necessary to pay attention to and pay attention to contracts (or clauses) on logistics, transportation, delivery and insurance to protect businesses from risks and losses in case of incidents, ensure that transportation contracts have clauses on force majeure situations, compensation and cost sharing when goods encounter risks, and at the same time, it is necessary to purchase full insurance for goods to prevent risks and reduce losses when incidents occur in the import market.
Regularly and proactively analyze, coordinate and exchange information with relevant ministries and sectors on import and export data of goods; the situation of geopolitical fluctuations affecting the production and business activities, import and export and transportation of Vietnamese enterprises; the situation of freight transportation, freight rates, costs, surcharges, etc. to promptly unify response plans for similar situations in the future.
Proactively develop prevention and adaptation plans to minimize risks, risks, and losses from incidents in trade, international transportation and related issues, and prepare timely response plans to limit the impact on the supply chain.
Regularly exchange with relevant state management agencies such as the Import-Export Department, Trade Promotion Department, Foreign Market Development Department, Trade Offices, and Vietnamese Trade Office Branches abroad to find new orders and new markets with potential, thereby having alternative plans or prioritizing the exploitation and maximum utilization of opportunities.
Units under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, based on their assigned functions and tasks, will closely monitor and promptly update information on developments in the Middle East region to exchange with associations, and study strengthening cooperation with international organizations to be able to proactively respond to similar situations in the future.
