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

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

He also said he hoped Vietnam 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 Vietnam 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 the seaport business.

According to the Head of the Vietnam Maritime Department, Vuong Dinh Lam, 90 per cent of Vietnam'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 cargo 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 Vietnam 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.

Souce: Asia Pulse