Logistics infrastructure development along Vietnam’s East–West Economic Corridor: The moderating role of international economic integration

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Type of the article: Research ArticleAbstractThis study examines the relationships among institutional support, investment capacity, regional planning and linkage, digital transformation, and logistics infrastructure development along the Vietnamese segment of the East–West Economic Corridor, together with the moderating role of international economic integration. Using purposive sampling, data were collected from November 2025 to March 2026 through online and in-person questionnaires administered to managers and professionals from government agencies, logistics service providers, and infrastructure actors in Quang Tri province, Hue city, Da Nang city, and other relevant locations. Respondents had direct professional involvement in the planning, financing, implementation, operation, management, or assessment of logistics infrastructure. After data screening, 298 valid responses were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Institutional support (β = 0.287), digital transformation (β = 0.271), investment capacity (β = 0.242), and regional planning and linkage (β = 0.133) were positively and significantly associated with logistics infrastructure development, and the model explained 57.8% of its variance. International economic integration weakened the positive relationships between institutional support and logistics infrastructure development (β = –0.126) and between investment capacity and logistics infrastructure development (β = –0.110). In contrast, international economic integration strengthened the positive relationship between digital transformation and logistics infrastructure development (β = 0.106), while its moderating effect on the relationship between regional planning and linkage and logistics infrastructure development was not statistically significant (β = –0.051, p = 0.268). Therefore, international economic integration is not uniformly enabling, as its implications depend on institutional alignment, financing adaptability, and digital readiness.