The Standard P&I Club has announced that the South Korean government, in collaboration with the private sector, will provide Won14.7trn ($13.3bn) for port upgrades and infrastructure investment by 2020.
The government has pledged to contribute a share of around Won7.4trn over the next five years. This follows the recent receivership application by Hanjin Shipping and an earlier promise by the government to make the nation’s shipping more competitive.
59 existing ports are earmarked to receive a share of the funds and an official from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said that it is also planning to operate 16 cruise docks at 9 ports by 2020. The cruise docks plan is seen as response to a swell in cruise tourism in the country with a large increase in Chinese visitor numbers recently.
Source: Standard P&I Club
