Vietnam port problems laid bare
The Vietnam Ports Association has spoken out to warn of substantial problems in the country’s port sector.
One of the key issues is the lack of dredging. The water passage to Hai Phong port, one of Vietnam’s busiest, has lacked regular dredging for many years, the VPA said in a statement adding there were similar problems at Can Tho which made the ports much less effective than they should be.
This is worsened by poor landside connections. Railway links have not been upgraded “for the last tens of years”, said the association. “Bad roads”, as it termed them, at Tien Sa port in Da Nang, Cat Lai port (among others) in the Ho Chi Minh city region and to the Ben Nghe and Thi Vai-Cai Mep port complex in Ba Ria- Vung Tau “have been hindering the development of the ports”, it added.
It is unusual in communist Vietnam for trade bodies to publically express their worries except behind closed door.
“We raised the issue of land access and deepwater access,” said Ho Kim Lan, secretary general of the VPA in a phone interview with Port Strategy.
More sensitive still is the issue of over-development as too many small ports drive down rates and make viability more difficult. Unusually, the VPA has called upon the Hanoi government to set up a strategic ports authority to regulate against duplication.
“There is no proper port authority in Vietnam and that is the issue,” said Mr Ho, who conceded establishing one would be time-consuming.
Source: Port Strategy