WB helps improve inland waterway transport

Hanoi (VNA) - A World Bank-funded project to develop transport systems in the Red River Delta is expected to help improve the inland waterway transport system in northern Vietnam .

The 200 million USD project, with 170 million USD financed by the WB,
will be implemented between 2009-1015 with the focus on the upgrading of
waterway infrastructure.

The project will help reduce costs and improve the quality of transport
services through the upgrading of inland waterways and road systems linking
goods production and distribution areas. It also aims to attract the
participation of the private sector in developing the infrastructure of a
number of provincial river ports.

The project will upgrade two waterway traffic routes, including a 280km
corridor between Phu Tho and Quang Ninh provinces and a 250km western
corridor linking Ha Noi and Lach Giang River in Nam Dinh province.
Once completed, these routes can handle 400 DWT barges.

The mouth of the Lach Giang River will be expanded to accommodate vessels
of up to 2,000 DWT instead of the current 600 DWT, whilst the annual
commodity handling capacity of Phu Tho province's Viet Tri port will
increase to 1.1 million tonnes and that of Ninh Phuc port in Ninh Binh
province will be expanded to 1.6 million tonnes by 2010.

The project will also invest in the training of numerous port and river
officials.
Under the country's recently-amended overall plan outlining waterway
transport development by 2020, over 40 trillion VND will be poured into
infrastructure development during the 2010-2020 period.

Vietnam has over 5,600 ports and wharfs, with 91 percent of these
being involved in the handling of goods.-Enditem