ID :
14656
Sat, 08/02/2008 - 09:55
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http://m.oananews.org//node/14656
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Mekong water potential untapped
Mekong Delta (VNA) - The country is wasting resources by not taking full advantage of the transportation potential of the Mekong River system, experts have said.
Demand for goods from the delta region in HCM City and itsneighbouring provinces has kept increasing along with economic development.
A lack of a railway system and overloaded roads mean 65 percent of goods and32 percent of people rely on rivers and canals for transport.
But, according to Hoang Van Hung, head of the Ministry of Transport's Waterway Department, while 25,000 km of waterways can be used if deepenedand developed, only 13,000 km are navigable at present.
The head of a rice export company in Can Tho said the cost of transporting one tone of rice by boat to HCM City was 110,000-135,000 VND. But totransport a tonne by road would cost 180,000-220,000 VND.
Si Van Khanh, deputy head of the department, said though water transport required relatively little investment and did not affect the environment,nobody was investing in it.
In the last decade just 300 billion VND (18.7 million USD) had beeninvested to develop the Mekong Delta waterways, he said.
According to Vo Hung Dung, head of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Can Tho, the demand for water transport in the delta isincreasing. If the nation's GDP grows at 1 percent, so will the demand.
He said between 1995 and 2000 water transport in the region grew by 8percent annually.
But in 2001-05 it dropped to 4 percent due to the shortage of infrastructure, he said, pointing out that had been the main reason for thecongestion on roads.
Khanh said the Government had spent a mere 312 million USD to develop waterways out of the 62 trillion VND (3.8 billion USD) it had earmarked fortransport infrastructure in the Mekong Delta in 2006-10.
"Even when the four waterway works are completed, they will not meet the transport demand," he said.-Enditem
Demand for goods from the delta region in HCM City and itsneighbouring provinces has kept increasing along with economic development.
A lack of a railway system and overloaded roads mean 65 percent of goods and32 percent of people rely on rivers and canals for transport.
But, according to Hoang Van Hung, head of the Ministry of Transport's Waterway Department, while 25,000 km of waterways can be used if deepenedand developed, only 13,000 km are navigable at present.
The head of a rice export company in Can Tho said the cost of transporting one tone of rice by boat to HCM City was 110,000-135,000 VND. But totransport a tonne by road would cost 180,000-220,000 VND.
Si Van Khanh, deputy head of the department, said though water transport required relatively little investment and did not affect the environment,nobody was investing in it.
In the last decade just 300 billion VND (18.7 million USD) had beeninvested to develop the Mekong Delta waterways, he said.
According to Vo Hung Dung, head of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Can Tho, the demand for water transport in the delta isincreasing. If the nation's GDP grows at 1 percent, so will the demand.
He said between 1995 and 2000 water transport in the region grew by 8percent annually.
But in 2001-05 it dropped to 4 percent due to the shortage of infrastructure, he said, pointing out that had been the main reason for thecongestion on roads.
Khanh said the Government had spent a mere 312 million USD to develop waterways out of the 62 trillion VND (3.8 billion USD) it had earmarked fortransport infrastructure in the Mekong Delta in 2006-10.
"Even when the four waterway works are completed, they will not meet the transport demand," he said.-Enditem
