Japan willing to help Vietnam develop seaports

First Secretary of the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam Jin Kimoto, has affirmed that Japan is willing to assist and cooperate with Viet Nam in developing seaports and improve seaport management capacity.

At the seminar “State management of seaports in Viet Nam ” held in Hanoi on June 24, Jin Kimoto said to reach economic development targets, especially in investment and import-export, Viet Nam needs to develop seaports.

He also said he hoped Viet Nam would soon complete leasing procedures for the Cai Mep-Thi Vai port in the southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province to create favourable conditions for foreign investors.

After introducing some seaport management models from Japan , Indonesia and the US , the Overseas, Coastal Area Development Institute of Japan (OCDI) Chief Advisor Hidehiko Kuroda suggested some measures for Viet Nam to develop its seaports.

Kuroda’s suggestions included setting up agencies to provide and implement seaport services, build funds for developing and maintaining seaports, and promulgate anti-monopoly regulations in seaport business.

According to the Head of the Viet Nam Maritime Department, Vuong Dinh Lam, 90 percent of Viet Nam’s import-export goods are transported by sea.

Lam said the country’s seaport system needs to be improved and developed in terms of infrastructure, scale and management capacity in order to have between 230-280 million tonnes of cargoes handled through ports by 2010, and 400 million tonnes by 2020.

The Maritime Department head said that with the assistance of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), his department has been carrying out a project “Improving management capacity for seaport system in Viet Nam ” to build an advanced model for seaport management.

The model is set to be tested in Cai Mep-Thi Vai port, and then in other ports. (VNA)