Ho Chi Minh City: Transport analysts from consulting firm Accenture have been in Vietnam recently looking at the nation’s ports and offering advice.
Hong Kong-based Fox Chu, Accenture’s director for port industry in Asia Pacific, said that the Vietnamese port industry is still facing many challenges that hinder its advancement. For example, traffic congestion is prevalent in ports located near big cities, and uneven distribution of the shipment loads is seen across ports in Vietnam.
Chu said the Vietnamese port sector’s inefficiencies led to higher costs and lower productivity. In 2012, Vietnamese ports operated at just 20 to 30% of their capacity. Meanwhile, a 40-foot container shipped from Hong Kong to Los Angeles is 28% less expensive than the one shipped from Ho Chi Minh City.
Another problem faced by Vietnamese ports is poor cooperation. Chu said this could be improved by entering into partnerships and privatising port businesses especially with worldwide port operating groups for financial and operational support. [23/07/13]
