Viet Nam’s seaports are expected to handle more than 200 million tonnes of cargo by 2020, equivalent to 19.5 million tonnes TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) of freight containers, according to Transport Development and Strategy Institute.

The amount would increase to 406-467 million tonnes (35.3 to 40.6 million TEU) by 2030.

Statistics from the Viet Nam Maritime Administration (VMA) also show that over the past 20 years, the total amount of goods transported through the country’s seaports rose 30 times, from 3.4 million tonnes (532,000 TEUs) in 1995 to 165.7 million tonnes (14.3 million TEUs) in 2017.

The first half of this year saw an amount of 8.7 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) of freight containers, up 28 per cent against the same period last year, and fulfilling 57 per cent of the target set for 2018.

However, the institute said container transportation in the north has not met expectations. For example, container transport by road accounted for 72 per cent, railway 27 per cent and seaway less than 1 per cent, meaning that transport costs were still high.

The institute added that transport by river was also limited.

Meanwhile, the Viet Nam Logistics Association said container transport in the south had higher effectiveness as up to 35-40 per cent of goods were shipped to HCM City’s main seaports by sea.

The association said authorities should study and develop an inland container depot (IDC) network and modern logistics centres to improve logistics quality, creating favourable conditions for container transport. — VNS