HCMC – The Ministry of Transport is stepping up efforts to develop inland waterway transport services to ease the pressure on roads.
Transport Minister Nguyen Van The was speaking at a teleconference announcing the national inland waterway infrastructure development plan in the 2021-2030 period, with a vision toward 2050, recently approved by the prime minister.
Inland waterway freight transport is targeted at 715 million tons in 2030, while waterway passenger transport is expected to amount to 397 million passengers, according to the plan.
The ministry will develop seaport and wharf systems to meet the demand for waterway cargo and passenger transport.
In the next five years, the ministry will also focus on developing nine key waterway transport corridors, said Minister The, adding that the coastal transport corridor stretching from Quang Ninh to Kien Giang provinces will serve as the north-south route for goods transport, helping ease the traffic overload facing roads and railways.
Some 1,800 cargo ships operating on the route can carry up to 23,000 tons of goods, helping to ease the overload on thousands of vehicles, The said.
The eight other waterway transport corridors comprise four each in the northern and southern regions.
The provincial and municipal governments should encourage firms to buy ships and establish waterway transport companies to further develop inland waterway transport services, according to the ministry.
In addition, 55 waterway routes will be developed on 140 rivers and canals nationwide with a total length of some 7,300 kilometers, including 18 routes in the northern region, 11 in central Vietnam and 26 in the southern region.
The ministry will also develop 54 cargo port clusters, with a total capacity of some 361 million tons of goods, with 25 in the northern region, eight in the central region and 21 in the southern region.
