Vietnam's sea transport industry needs restructuring to become morecompetitive, said head of the Transport Ministry's Marine DepartmentNguyen Nhat.
He said that the restructuring process must start with diversifying the fleet.
Statisticsfrom the department show that Vietnam has 600 sea shipping firms withover 1,800 vessels that have a total capacity of 7.4 million tonnes.
However,more than half of the ships are bulk carriers and other smaller ships,while there are only a few container ships, liquefied gas carriers andspecialised vessels.
"The unreasonable structure of shipcategories was the weakest point of Vietnam's fleet," said vice head ofthe Marine Department Bui Thien Thu.
Thu added that five sixthsof the country's sea shipping firms were private, but accounted for onlya quarter of the fleets' load capacity.
"The figures show that most of the firms are small," Thu said.
"It's difficult for Vietnamese sea transport firms to compete with foreign companies," he said.
The Vietnamese fleet can currently only deal with 15 percent of the market share, and foreign shipping companies take the rest.
Vietnameseships carry goods overseas but mostly on routes to China and SoutheastAsian countries, while foreign firms take major markets like Europe andAmerica.
Thu said that about 40 foreign sea transport firmsoperating in Vietnam planned to cooperate with each other to raise theircompetitiveness.
Domestic firms are losing out at home as localimporters and exporters usually prefer agreements with internationalshipping which their partners have the right to select.
Head ofthe Marine Department Nhat said that Vietnamese sea transport firmsusually developed their fleets without long term visions or strategies,which resulted in ineffective business operations.
Nhat said that incentives were needed for local sea transport firms to invest in their fleet.
Besidesrestructuring the fleet, the Government should offer tax breaks forgoods carried by Vietnamese ships, and connect exporters with shippingfirms.
He said the Transport Minister had approved a plan to improve Vietnam's marine infrastructure by 2020.
Itestimated that the country needs about 2 billion USD to upgrade seaportfacilities that have hindered the development of Vietnam's seatransport sector.
Nhat said that the ministry expected private investors to look at developing these infrastructure projects.-VNA
He said that the restructuring process must start with diversifying the fleet.
Statisticsfrom the department show that Vietnam has 600 sea shipping firms withover 1,800 vessels that have a total capacity of 7.4 million tonnes.
However,more than half of the ships are bulk carriers and other smaller ships,while there are only a few container ships, liquefied gas carriers andspecialised vessels.
"The unreasonable structure of shipcategories was the weakest point of Vietnam's fleet," said vice head ofthe Marine Department Bui Thien Thu.
Thu added that five sixthsof the country's sea shipping firms were private, but accounted for onlya quarter of the fleets' load capacity.
"The figures show that most of the firms are small," Thu said.
"It's difficult for Vietnamese sea transport firms to compete with foreign companies," he said.
The Vietnamese fleet can currently only deal with 15 percent of the market share, and foreign shipping companies take the rest.
Vietnameseships carry goods overseas but mostly on routes to China and SoutheastAsian countries, while foreign firms take major markets like Europe andAmerica.
Thu said that about 40 foreign sea transport firmsoperating in Vietnam planned to cooperate with each other to raise theircompetitiveness.
Domestic firms are losing out at home as localimporters and exporters usually prefer agreements with internationalshipping which their partners have the right to select.
Head ofthe Marine Department Nhat said that Vietnamese sea transport firmsusually developed their fleets without long term visions or strategies,which resulted in ineffective business operations.
Nhat said that incentives were needed for local sea transport firms to invest in their fleet.
Besidesrestructuring the fleet, the Government should offer tax breaks forgoods carried by Vietnamese ships, and connect exporters with shippingfirms.
He said the Transport Minister had approved a plan to improve Vietnam's marine infrastructure by 2020.
Itestimated that the country needs about 2 billion USD to upgrade seaportfacilities that have hindered the development of Vietnam's seatransport sector.
Nhat said that the ministry expected private investors to look at developing these infrastructure projects.-VNA
