Nghe An proposes planning to build a logistics center to serve waterway transport.

On the morning of October 14, under the chairmanship of Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The, the Ministry of Transport organized a national online conference on the development of inland waterway transport logistics and coastal transport by inland waterway vehicles. On the Nghe An side, comrade Le Hong Vinh - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired, along with representatives of relevant departments, branches and sectors.

Many advantages for developing inland waterway transport

With favorable natural conditions, a long coastline, many river systems and estuaries, Vietnam has many favorable conditions to develop coastal waterway transport.freight transportfrom the South to the North and vice versa. If in 2010-2011, the whole country had only 300 coastal waterway transport vehicles with an average load of 5,000 tons/vehicle, then by the end of 2020 the whole country had 1,800 coastal waterway transport vehicles, of which the highest load was 23,000 tons. In addition to transferring goods between localities to ports, waterway transport also connects coastal ports.

At Nghe An bridgehead, comrade Le Hong Vinh - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired the conference. Photo: Tien Dong

Nghe An also has a coastline of 82km, currently has a specialized seaport The Vissai with a 2,000m long wharf extending out to sea, capable of receiving 70,000-ton ships; DKC petroleum depot port including 2 depots and 2 wharves capable of receiving cargo ships from 10,000 to 50,000 tons. Wharf areaCua Lo portwith the function of a general port directly serving the Southeast Economic Zone and transporting goods to neighboring provinces in the North Central region and being one of the gateways for goods transit to Laos and the Northeast region of Thailand.

Large container ship docks at Cua Lo port. Photo: BNA documents

However, in Nghe An today, the inland waterway system is still underdeveloped, with many shallow beaches and low water levels. Transport is mainly based on natural channels, only suitable for small boats to transport passengers for short distances and mainly transport construction materials. In addition, warehouse services and logistics warehouse infrastructure are still underdeveloped. In 2020, the estimated volume of cargo transport was 126.22 million tons; the volume of cargo transport reached 3,646.43 million tons...

Improve transport capacity and promote investment attraction

At the conference, many opinions said that, currentlylogistics systemServing inland waterway transport is still limited. The system of ships and barges on this transport route has not really met the transport demand, mainly transporting agricultural and construction products, not many items of high economic value. In particular, the siltation of canals also makes transport difficult.

Many opinions say that it is necessary to plan and upgrade infrastructure at ports to meet the transport capacity of inland waterways. Photo: BNA documents

Mr. Pham Quoc Long - Chairman of the Vietnam Maritime Services Agents and Brokers Association said that localities need to have preferential investment policies for business units in the field of inland waterway transport, especially tax incentives, free port and warehouse infrastructure. Prioritize customs procedures for transit goods through Cambodia to be more open, moving towards applying them as international transit goods. Actively apply information technology between Vietnam Maritime Port Authority and ports to create more favorable conditions for businesses when carrying out customs clearance procedures.

Many waterway transport units have also made recommendations to state management agencies to apply income tax policies to support businesses to overcome the difficult period of the Covid-19 pandemic. Pay attention to directing and providing specific directions in planning the construction of seaport systems, river ports and logistics centers. Pay attention to supporting Covid-19 vaccination for crew members...

In the summary report at the conference, Nghe An also recommended that the Ministry of Transport pay attention to directing and providing specific directions in the planning of building a logistics center in Nghe An in the period 2020-2030. Photo: Tien Dong

The recommendations also suggest that the State should pay attention to investing in developing waterways, routes, and waterway infrastructure, and provide preferential training and working conditions for crew members on ships, avoiding the need to hire crew members at high costs. Meanwhile, businesses should seek sources of goods and cooperate internationally.

Mr. Le Quang Trung - Vice President of Vietnam Logistics Business Association proposed to allow river and sea transport vehicles to enter seaports, then apply the same fees and charges as entering inland waterway ports; there should be a mechanism to reduce fees for container ships entering inland waterways.

At this conference, Nghe An also reported to the Ministry of Transport to pay attention to directing and providing specific directions in the planning of building a logistics center in Nghe An in the period of 2020-2030. From there, pay attention to supporting funding for Nghe An to continue investing in upgrading the infrastructure system of ports and inland waterways.

Conclusion at the Conference, from 20 opinions and proposals from localities and businesses,Minister Nguyen Van TheRequest the Inland Waterways Administration to synthesize and compile statistics, and immediately handle any issues within its jurisdiction, and at the same time transfer them to relevant ministries for consideration and response or submit them to the Government for comments on solutions. Request the Inland Waterways Administration to review mechanisms, planning, and coordination between localities and agencies, departments, and sectors to support businesses, upgrade inland waterway ports, equipment, develop fleets, and waterway transport companies... to ensure transport capacity and compete with countries in the region.