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A consideration for developing a dry
port system in Indochina area
a

a

Ngoc-Hien Do , Ki-Chan Nam & Quynh-Lam Ngoc Le

b

a

Department of Logistics , Korea Maritime University , #1
Dongsam-dong, Yeongdo-gu, Busan, Korea
b

Department of Industrial Systems Engineering , Ho Chi Minh City
University of Technology , 268 Ly Thuong Kiet Street, District 10,
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

38,

NO.

2011,

1, 1–9

A consideration for developing a dry port system
in Indochina area
NGOC-HIEN DO*y, KI-CHAN NAMy and
QUYNH-LAM NGOC LEz

Downloaded by [Selcuk Universitesi] at 19:08 02 January 2015

yDepartment of Logistics, Korea Maritime University,
#1 Dongsam-dong, Yeongdo-gu, Busan, Korea
zDepartment of Industrial Systems Engineering, Ho Chi Minh City
University of Technology, 268 Ly Thuong Kiet Street, District 10,
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Dry ports are intermodal transport hubs in the inland, which operate as centres
for the transshipment of sea cargo to inland destinations. They could make the
import and export easier and increase trade. This paper considers conditions to
construct them in the Indochina area including three countries Vietnam, Lao
People’s Democratic Republic (Laos) and Cambodia. Accordingly, the general
characteristics of dry ports and the conditions to develop them are reviewed.
Transportation systems in the Indochina area are then analysed. Consequently, a
suggested dry port system is presented, which promises to bring many benefits for
the Indochina region. Finally, some conclusions and suggestions are presented.


N.-H. Do et al.

located on the international marine transport network, and has a good relationship
with China. However, currently, this region has been considered as a weak economic
zone [2].
Underdeveloped transportation infrastructure which cannot create a strong
support for economic growth is one of reasons why the economic zone is developing
slowly. Each country has its own characteristics with advantages and disadvantages
to develop its transportation system. Laos has borders with two big markets,
Thailand and China, but it is a landlocked country, so it is difficult to use marine
transport. Cambodia has a seaport system, but it is weak. Vietnam has a long coast
line with suitable conditions for developing a good seaport system and has a border
with China, but its seaport system could not compete with neighbour ports such as
port of Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. Therefore, it is difficult for them to
construct an efficient and effective transportation system if they do not have a good
cooperative plan.
Dry port system could be considered as an alternative to improve the
transportation system in this region. Dry ports could be inland terminals within a
country that has a gateway port or they could be located in adjacent landlocked
countries in the hinterland of one or more seaports [3]. Dry port supplies regions
with an intermodal terminal or a merging point for traffic modes—rail, air and truck
routes—involved in distributing merchandise that comes from water ports [4]. It can
operate as an extension to an existing seaport, increasing capacity and efficiency and
also moving traffic off the roads and onto rail or inland waterways, wherever
possible. Therefore, it could support port capacity by improving hinterland
distribution hubs and looking at the potential of inland port with multimodal
connections.
This paper analyses Indochina’s conditions for developing a suitable dry port
system. The transportation infrastructure including the road network with Asian
Highway system, railway with Singapore–Kunming rail link (SKRL) and seaport


of existing infrastructure and make a coordinated plan for development. Indochina
sub-region transport network is a part of this project.
Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and other countries comprise in the Southeast Asian
sub-region which has more than 23 400 km of Asian Highway [6] as shown in
Figure 1. The total Asian Highway length in Indochina area is only 6396 km or
approximately 27%. It connects primary economic centres and national roads.
Therefore, it could contribute in the international transport network not only of this
region but also of Asia.
Besides, in 2006, a transportation agreement by 18 transport ministers in
connection with the Trans-Asia Railway Network (TAR) was reached, which started
off the United Nations project to connect the Far East to Western Europe by rail
link [7]. The Singapore-Kunming Rail Link (SKRL), as shown in Figure 2, is a subproject in Southeast Asia, which spans around 5000 km from Singapore through
Indochina area to the Kunming City, China. It is a very efficient and economic mode
of cross-border cargo transportation [8]. There are six alternative routes to link
Singapore to Kunming as shown in Table 1. Route 1 connecting Vietnam, Laos,
Cambodia and China is evaluated at its high social and economic impact by the
ASEAN Transport Ministers [9]. Laos, a landlocked country, could access the
world’s markets through TAR or efficient rail links to international ports.
Similar to highway or railway network, the ASEAN-wide port system was
proposed in 1999, which consisted of 47 ports as shown in Figure 3. It is easy to
recognize that Indochina’s ports could not compare with neighbour ports in the
ASEAN region, such as ports of Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.


N.-H. Do et al.

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4

Total capital outlay
(US$ billions)

Route
distance (km)

Missing
links (km)

Countries involved

1.8
6.0
1.1
5.7
1.1
1.1

5382
4559
4259
4164
4481
4225

431
1127
531
1300
616



6

N.-H. Do et al.
Table 2.

General characteristics of four main Vietnamese ports.

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Port
Hai Phong
Lach Huyen
Dinh Vu
Cai Lan
Da Nang
Tien Sa, Son Tra
Lien Chieu
Ba Ria–Vung Tau
Cai Mep, Sao Mai – Ben Dinh
Phu My, My Xuan
Long Son
Van Phong, Khanh Hoa
Dam Mon
South Van Phong
West Van Phong

Accommodated ship
50 000–80 000 DWT or 4000–6000 TEU

Guam–Honolulu–San Francisco, Victoria or Panama. In comparison with Hong
Kong and Singapore ports, the shortest marine line transporting to America is from
Van Phong port [15]. Besides, it has good natural conditions required for developing
ports and a conducive policy for investment from Vietnamese Government.

4. Dry port system as an improvement alternative
Although the Indochina region has been participating in Asian Highway, Railway
Links Network and ASEAN-wide Port System project, its transportation system is
not considered as an effective and efficient one. It is essential for effective regional
integration and efficient supply chain if an effective and efficient transport network is
set up. Significant progress has been made in improving connectivity and intermodal


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Developing a dry port system in Indochina area

7

facilities such as ports and dry ports or Inland Container Depots (ICD) not only in
Indochina but also in the Asia Pacific region. The region has realized the importance
of such improvements, as evidenced by the efforts being undertaken to connect the
different modes to each other and to improve their capacities.
Dry ports play an important role in integrating modes of transport, reducing
border crossing and transit delays, facilitating the use of energy efficient and lower
emission means of transport, and creating new clusters of economic growth and job
creation in the local area [16]. A dry port is a hinterland intermodal freight transport
hub, typically providing valuable space for logistics and onward distribution
activities [17]. The potential benefits of dry ports would be seen if they are applied
successfully.

result, increase in trade flows, lower door-to-door freight rates, avoidance of clearing
and forwarding agent’s fees and seaports, storage demurrage and late documentation
fees, the need to extend the period of marine insurance, optimal use of road and rail
transport and national rolling stock, better utilization of capacity, greater use of
containers, lower customs staff costs, benefits to seaports, inventory savings, benefits
of unit trains, improved communications and additional benefits could be brought
by the dry port system.


N.-H. Do et al.

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8

Figure 4.

Suggested dry port system for Indochina region.

5. Conclusions
A successful dry port system could support Indochina seaport capacity by improving
hinterland distribution hubs and looking at the potential of inland ports with
multimodal connections. Consequently, it could help change the situation better not
only of regional seaports with ambitions to become international hub port(s) and
transit port(s) in the shortest possible time but also of regional effective and efficient
transportation system.
In developing efficient intermodal transportation, member countries should
continue to invest in upgrading roads, modernizing ports and constructing dry ports
as well as the provision of sufficient cargo/container handling equipment and the


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