Better infrastructure to develop Vietnamese ports

Vietnam's rapidly developing container trade needs to be strengthened by better infrastructure that can sustain and develop its growth.

Land-side infrastructure should not be overlooked as a factor in container terminal productivity and capacity, according to Cai Mep International Terminal (CMIT) commerical officer Malcolm Gregory.

The lack of modern port facilities threatens to dampen Vietnam's economic growth prospects and limit new trade opportunities.

Government officials acknowledge the dearth of deepwater and internationally standardised port facilities, including enough berths to service incoming container and trans-ocean vessels.

Industry analysts added that ships sometimes run aground due to insufficiently dredged water channels that give sea access to ports.

"A number of critical projects are either underway or planned, and these are essential if we are to maximize the capacity of the new deep water terminals to handle main line mother vessels," noted Gregory.

The emergence of Vietnam as a major manufacturing centre has led to a significant increase in container volumes, even growing by 2% in 2009 when container throughput declined by over 10% world-wide.

Investment in new modern container facilities will enable Vietnam to take full advantage of trade as an engine of economic development.

The 1.1 million TEU annual capacity CMIT, now under construction and opening in January 2011 is part of the APM Terminals Global Terminal Network. It is one of five new deep water terminals in the Thi Vai - Cai Mep port complex which will be operational by the end of 2011.

The existing Ho Chi Minh City terminals currently handle over 90% of southern Vietnam's overall container traffic of approximately 3.6 million TEUs in 2009.

South Vietnam throughput has been projected to grow to 4.8 million TEUs by 2012.

In an interview with the Asia Times, he says, "The state has focused on port development, but still we are behind the demand.

"The demand of capital [for the] port system is far beyond state budget. We are thinking private-public partnerships."

The Vietnamese government has said it plans to limit its own contribution to its ports master plan to between 12% and 15% of the total investment budget.

That amount is being confined to public seaport infrastructure such as breakwaters, dredging, channel construction and road connections.