On May 19, USAID and the General Department of Customs announced an action plan to reduce congestion at Cat Lai port, Ho Chi Minh City. This action plan was announced at a workshop co-organized by USAID and the General Department of Customs, including 21 recommendations to improve the efficiency of port operations to meet increasing demand.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the port was operating at full capacity, while demand based on container volume is forecast to double by 2030.
The action plan is the result of a pre-feasibility study on congestion prevention and facilitation of logistics activities at Cat Lai port conducted by the Trade Facilization Project funded by USAID from May 2020 to March 2021.
The study comprehensively reviewed the port's operations on an area of 160 hectares to assess the operational efficiency, bottlenecks and problems in the process of enhancing the port's unloading capacity, and made 21 recommendations in the form of an action plan for the local government and relevant agencies to consider.
These recommendations include taking advantage of information technology solutions to increase information flows and goods clearance to arranging or expanding port infrastructure and improving operational efficiency.
In addition, through the USAID INVEST project, USAID is coordinating with the Department of Maritime Affairs and the Ministry of Transport to consider areas that are capable of public-private cooperation, an effective method to mobilize investment for large-scale infrastructure projects.
As international trade gradually recovers from the impact of COVID-19, solving congestion at Cat Lai port is an even more priority. The solutions to combat congestion that have been studied and presented at today's workshop, when implemented, will facilitate international trade, contributing to helping Vietnam improve competitiveness in the region and the world," said Mr. Mai Xuan Thanh, Deputy Director General of the General Department of Customs.
Reducing congestion at Vietnams ports will become increasingly important as trade gradually recovers after COVID-19. The pre-feasibility study at Cat Lai port conducted by USAID has proposed an action plan for this busiest container port in Vietnam with the goal of helping the port to be able to handle the expected increase in container volume. This effort reaffirms our commitment to supporting the Vietnamese Government in facilitating trade and investment as well as enhancing national competitiveness - USAID Vietnam Director Ann Marie Yatishock said.
Every year, about 4.9 million 20-foot (TEU) containers are unloaded in Ho Chi Minh City, equivalent to about three million trucks, or more than 8,000 trucks per day passing in and around the city to unload containers from the port area. Cat Lai Port handles more than 92% of this volume and about 50% of the total container volume of the country.
The USAID-funded Trade Facility Project will be implemented over 5 years (2018-2023) with a total capital of 21.7 million USD to support the Vietnamese Government in applying a risk management approach in the customs sector and specialized inspections as well as supporting the enhancement of the implementation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Facility Agreement.
The project coordinates with the General Department of Customs and the Ministry of Finance to standardize customs procedures, strengthen coordination at the central and provincial levels, and at the same time improve the capacity of customs officers. The goal of the project is to support Vietnam in developing a more attractive commercial and investment environment for businesses and investors.
