Bui Thien Thu, the Director of Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration, has recently chaired a Workshop on Inland Waterways Development for Northern Delta Region, with the view to practically implement the Conclusion by Minister of Transport in the Progress meeting of May and Follows-up of June, 2021. The Workshop was held online with 68 endpoints with over 100 participants.
Attending the Workshop are VIWA Vice Director Le Minh Dao; Mr. Tran Do Liem – Chairman of Vietnam Association of Inland Waterways, Mr. Pham Quoc Long – Chairman of Vietnam Ship Agents and Brokers Association (VISABA), Mr. Ngo Khac Le – Vice General Secretary, and Mr. Nguyen Tuong, Senior Advisor of Vietnam Logistics Association (VLA); representative of Transport Department – Ministry of Transport, Vietnam Maritime Administration, Department of Transports of Hanoi, Hai Phong, Hai Duong, Ninh Binh, and Bac Giang provinces; Transport Development and Strategy Institute (TDSI), the inland waterways infrastructure consultant (TEDI), leaders of functional departments, subordinate units of VIWA in the North, and transport, logistics enterprises, inland waterways and maritime harbour and port owners (at the online endpoints).
Many members participated the Workshop
Giving their speeches in the Workshop, representatives from associations and enterprises indicated some limitations of Northern Region’s inland waterways transportation. It includes ineffective connection between road, and sea port transportation; the paperwork for entering, leaving inland waterways is still offline; infrastructure fee in Hai Phong sea port applies to inland waterways vessels; in the sea ports there are no exclusive handling area for inland waterways vessels…
Thence, many solutions were suggested, discussed, and agreed upon, with the view to develop sustainably inland waterways transport in the North. Especially, the significant proposal was to launch priority policies, support to build container vessels for inland waterways; exemption of infrastructure fee in Hai Phong seaport; implementing online procedures for entering and leaving ports; connecting waterways transport enterprises, between specialized transport associations and commodity owner associations, etc.
The attendants also made comments on the draft Master Plan of Inland Waterways Transport Infrastructure, and the draft Decision by Prime Minister on policies and mechanism encouraging inland waterways transport development.
Teleconferencing representatives
By the end of the teleconference, VIWA Director Bui Thien Thu appreciated the attention from the participating associations and enterprises, and also their practical ideas on policies to develop inland waterways transport in Northern Delta Region. The Director assigns functional departments to implement solutions enhancing coordination between transport associations and commodity associations and owners.
“The functional department should take note fully all comments and ideas of the participants in the Workshop to finalize the Master Plan of Inland Waterways Infrastructure, and Decision by Prime Minister on policies and mechanism to encourage inland waterways transport development; and continue to prepare contents for the Workshop on Inland Waterways Transport Development for Southeastern Region and Mekong Delta of Vietnam in the coming time”, indicated VIWA Director Bui Thien Thu.
