The Phnom Penh Post –
A trade representative has called for the construction of more deep-water ports in the Mekong River Delta to save money and time for seafood exporters.
Nguyen Hoai Nam, deputy general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said the move would allow firms to directly export their goods.
Most of the Mekong Delta’s export turnover is made up of rice and processed seafood products. Every year, the region’s transportation demand for export goods is around 17 million to 18 million tonnes.
However, 70 per cent of export products have to be transferred to major ports in Ho Chi Minh City and Cai Mep port (Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province), increasing transportation by 10-40 per cent depending on the route.
This situation leads to frequent overloads on the connecting routes from Ho Chi Minh City to Mekong Delta provinces. In addition, transport service quality is poor, costs are high and there is a lack of links between different modes of transport.
As one of the largest frozen shrimp exporters in the world, Minh Phu Seafood Joint Stock Company annually exports about 6,700 to 7,000 shrimp containers with a turnover of $750-850 million.