Decision No. 13/2008/QD-BGTVT Approves the Adjustment and Supplement to the Master Plan for the Development of Inland Waterway Transport in Vietnam until 2020

Pursuant to …;

Approving the Adjustment and Supplement to the Master Plan for the Development of Inland Waterway Transport in Vietnam until 2020

Based on Decree No. 51/2008/NĐ-CP dated April 22, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Transport;

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MINISTER OF TRANSPORT

Based on Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP dated September 7, 2006 of the Government on the establishment, examination, and management of master plans for overall economic and social development; and Decree No. 04/2008/NĐ-CP dated January 11, 2008 of the Government amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP;

Based on Decision No. 16/2000/QĐ-TTg dated February 3, 2000 of the Prime Minister approving the Master Plan for the Development of the Inland Waterway Transport Industry in Vietnam until 2020;

Based on Document No. 6106/VPCP-CN dated October 25, 2007 of the Office of the Government regarding "Delegating the Minister of Transport to organize the examination and approval of the Adjustment and Supplement to the Master Plan for the Development of Inland Waterway Transport in Vietnam until 2020 in accordance with current regulations."

Considering the report of the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration No. 834/TTr-CĐS dated June 25, 2008 requesting approval of the Adjustment and Supplement to the Master Plan for the Development of Inland Waterway Transport in Vietnam until 2020;

At the proposal of the Director of the Investment Planning Department,

Approves the Adjustment and Supplement to the Master Plan for the Development of Inland Waterway Transport in Vietnam until 2020 with the main contents as follows:

DECISION:

Article 1. I. VIEWS AND DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES FOR INLAND WATERWAY TRANSPORT IN VIETNAM UNTIL 2020

- To fully utilize natural conditions while investing systematically and planned to maximize the advantages of inland waterway transport (transporting large volumes of goods, oversized and overweight cargo, low cost, reduced environmental pollution) to develop inland waterway transport, meeting the requirements of economic and social development and international economic integration, ensuring sustainable development.

1. Development Orientation

- To develop inland waterway transport in a coordinated manner concerning routes, ports, loading and unloading equipment, transportation means, and management capacity to meet the increasing quality requirements for cargo and passenger transport, reasonable costs, and safety.

- To invest in the infrastructure of inland waterways to connect with other transportation networks, forming an integrated and smooth system. Combining the development of inland waterway transport with other sectors such as irrigation, hydropower, etc.

- To develop the fleet of transportation vessels towards modernization, rational structure, suitability with channel conditions, and ensuring safe transport. - To diversify sources of investment to develop the infrastructure of inland waterways. The State will focus on improving, upgrading, and maintaining channels, participating in the investment of key ports together with enterprises.

2. Development objectives

- Regarding transport:

Meeting the transport needs of society with higher quality, reasonable costs, and high competitiveness; opening new transport routes such as coastal routes, international routes, specialized container routes, and lash routes. Developing the fleet of transportation vessels towards modernization (average age of vessels is 5-7 years), rational structure (tugboats and pushers 30-35%, self-propelled vessels 65-70%), total vessel tonnage is 12 million tons.

- Regarding infrastructure:

Increasing the length of inland waterways managed and utilized for transport; ensuring adequate depth on major routes; modernizing signaling systems; canalizing sections of rivers through major cities. Modernizing some key ports and main ports in key economic regions, specialized ports; increasing the mechanization rate of loading and unloading at local ports; constructing some passenger ports and wharfs.

- Regarding the construction of new inland waterway vessels:

Developing shipbuilding facilities in the Red River Delta and the Mekong Delta regions to ensure the construction and repair of all types of inland waterway transport vessels.

II. MAIN CONTENTS OF THE MASTER PLAN

1. Transport development planning: (details see Appendix Table 1)

- Average annual growth rate of cargo transport volume 6.73-7.02% per year in terms of tons and 7.02-9.6% per year in terms of ton-kilometers; 6.93-8.32% per year in terms of passengers and 8.3-11% per year in terms of passenger-kilometers. Specifically: In 2020, it will be 190-210 million tons of cargo and 530-540 million passengers.

- The fleet of transportation vessels by 2020 will be 12 million tons of vessels and 1 million passenger seats, with a structure reaching 65% self-propelled vessels and 35% tugboat and pusher fleets.

+ Northern route fleet: Tugboats and pushers from 1,200-1,600 tons, self-propelled vessels ≤500 tons, river-sea hybrid vessels 1,000-2,000 tons; regular passenger vessels 50-120 seats, fast passenger vessels 50-90 seats.

+ Southern route fleet: Tugboats and pushers from 600-1,200 tons, self-propelled vessels ≤500 tons, river-sea hybrid vessels 1,000-2,000 tons; regular passenger vessels 50-120 seats, fast passenger vessels 30-120 seats.

2. Infrastructure development planning

a. Regarding routes:

On the basis of the routes according to Decision No. 16/2000/QĐ-TTg dated February 3, 2000, supplementing some routes, adjusting technical specifications and technical grades of the following routes:

Northern region:

 (Details see Appendix Table 2) (For details, see Appendix 2 table)

Adjust 5 routes: Cửa Đáy - Ninh Bình, Lạch Giang - Hà Nội, Quảng Ninh - Ninh Bình (via sông Đào - Hải Phòng), Quảng Ninh - Hải Phòng - Hà Nội (via sông Đuống), Quảng Ninh - Phả Lại.

Add 7 routes: Quảng Ninh - Ninh Bình via Cửa Lạch Tray (to reduce traffic through sông Đào Hải Phòng); Hà Nội - Việt Trì - Lào Cai; Việt Trì - Tuyên Quang - Na Hang; Ngã ba Hồng Đà - cảng Hòa Bình; Phả Lại - Đa Phúc; Phả Lại - Á Lữ and the route Ninh Bình - Thanh Hóa.

Southern Region: (See Appendix Table 3 for details)

Adjust 4 routes: Cửa Tiểu - Cambodia, Cửa Định An - Tân Châu, Sài Gòn - Cà Mau (via kênh Xà No), Sài Gòn - Kiên Lương (via kênh Lấp Vò).

Add 10 routes: Sài Gòn - Cà Mau (coastal route); Sài Gòn - Kiên Lương (via Đồng Tháp Mười and tứ giác Long Xuyên); Sài Gòn - Bến Súc; Sài Gòn - Bến Kéo; Sài Gòn - Mộc Hóa, Mộc Hóa - Hà Tiên; Sài Gòn - Hiếu Liêm; Kênh Phước Xuyên - Kênh 28; Rạch Giá - Cà Mau and the route Vũng Tàu - Thị Vải - Đồng bằng Sông Cửu Long.

Central Region: (See Appendix Table 4 for details)

Add 10 routes: Lạch Trào - Hàm Rồng, Lạch Sung - Cầu Lèn, Cửa Hội - Bến Thuỷ - Đô Lương, Cửa Sót - Cầu Nghèn, Cửa Gianh - Quảng Trường, Cửa Nhật Lệ - Cầu Long Đại, Cửa Việt - Đập Tràn, Thuận An - Ngã ba Tuần, Hội An - Cửa Đại - Cù Lao Tràm, Kỳ Hà - Cửa Hàn (coastal route).

b. Regarding ports and wharfs:

Northern Region: (See Appendix Table 5 for details)

- Cargo ports: Adjust the scale of 7 ports, add 34 ports, including 5 new construction ports.

- Passenger ports: Adjust the scale of 2 ports, add 4 ports.

- Hanoi area: The Hanoi port will be studied to convert its function mainly towards serving tourism, combined with handling clean cargo. Add the Phù Đổng port specialized in container handling. In the Nam Định area, the Nam Định port will be converted to serve passengers and clean cargo, while cargo handling facilities will be relocated to suitable new positions.

Southern Region: (See Appendix Table 6 for details)

- The ports of Cao Lãnh, Mỹ Thới, and Vĩnh Long have been

approved by the Prime Minister under Decision No. 1024/2005/QĐ-TTg on Group 6 Seaports (not included in the list of inland waterway ports in this planning scheme).

- Add 26 cargo ports and 15 passenger ports, including 5 new construction cargo ports.

Central Region:(See Appendix Table 7 for details)

Add 6 cargo ports, including 1 new construction port.

3. Total investment capital demand for infrastructure (See Appendix Table 8 for details)

a. Estimated total investment capital demand for developing inland waterway transportation infrastructure until 2010 and 2011-2020 is 36,780 billion VND;

b. Priority project list and sequence. (See Appendix Table 9 for details)

4. Main solutions and policies

a. Investment policy for infrastructure development:

- The State focuses on investing in upgrading and maintaining channels and routes, participating in developing key hub ports and main ports in important areas to ensure proactive operation of the inland waterway port system serving economic and social development.

- The State encourages creating conditions for domestic and foreign organizations and individuals to invest in constructing projects along waterways and ports according to approved plans through BOT or joint venture forms as stipulated by current regulations.

- For newly built ports and wharfs funded by the State budget, gradually allow enterprises to lease infrastructure for business operations to recover part of the investment capital.

b. Transport development policy:

- The State encourages various economic sectors to participate in transport business. State-owned enterprises only retain a market share of about 10-15% to ensure their leading role, focusing on major cargo flows and certain key goods.

- Continue to specify some laws such as the Law on Cooperatives, the Law on Enterprises... to promote production and create a healthy competitive environment in transport activities, initially through model bylaws of transport cooperatives.

c. Human resource development policy:

- Increase investment in specialized training institutions, providing conditions for these institutions to keep up with industry developments, access modern science and technology for teaching purposes, meeting national requirements for development and international economic integration.
- Adjust appropriately the time and content of training levels, especially for professional certificates for ship captains, chief engineers, and technical management staff.
- Establish civil servant standards for managerial positions.
- Provide basic and advanced training for officials who hold managerial positions but whose professional qualifications do not meet the standards.

d. Reform of state administration management in the specialized sector:

- Reform the organizational structure of the Vietnam Inland Waterway Administration in accordance with the Law on Inland Waterway Transportation. The Vietnam Inland Waterway Administration is the specialized state management agency nationwide.
- Based on summarizing and evaluating experiences from pilot privatization of river management sections, study and propose models and appropriate mechanisms and policies for remaining river management sections.
- Increase the number of port authorities to manage central-level managed transport routes. The number of port authority representatives should be appropriate to the characteristics and operational schemes of ports and wharfs in the region. Along with organizational restructuring, financial mechanisms for the port authority sector need to be considered.
- Strengthen inspection forces to achieve management ratios per length of river and canal for each inspector. Implement a quota-based staffing and financial mechanism, while clearly defining the tasks of inland waterway inspectors to avoid overlapping functions with inland waterway police and vessel inspection.

Article 2. Organization and implementation of the Planning

1. Ministries, sectors, provincial People's Committees directly under the Central Government shall, within their respective functions, duties, and powers, cooperate with the Ministry of Transport to implement the objectives of the Planning for the Development of Inland Waterway Transport, ensuring consistency and coordination with the implementation of economic and social development plans at the sector and local levels.

2. Planning Management

- The Ministry of Transport decides to adjust the ports within the planning framework. In cases where practical needs require adjustments or supplements to the plan based on proposals from investors and provincial People's Committees, the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration shall submit to the Ministry for consideration and adjustment within its authority to meet economic and social development requirements.

- The Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration is responsible before the Minister for organizing and managing the planning framework, coordinating with local functional agencies to implement the approved planning framework accurately.

- Investments in the renovation, upgrading, and construction of new inland waterway traffic routes, ports, and wharfs must be consistent with the approved planning framework and comply with regulations on investment management and construction.

- For the planning framework of inland waterway transportation development in provinces and cities involved, prior to approval by the provincial People's Committee, there must be an agreement with the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration to avoid overlapping investments that lead to waste and ensure consistency from central to local levels.

- The construction of river-crossing works and water conservancy projects along inland waterway transport routes such as road bridges, railway bridges, power transmission lines, floodgates, water intake structures... must necessarily have the opinion of the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration to ensure compatibility with the dimensions of the works and the level of inland waterway transportation according to the planning framework.

Article 3. The Standard Measurement Quality Control Department shall be responsible for organizing and guiding the implementation of the Regulations adopted herein.

Article 4. The Director of the Ministry's Office, the Head of the Investment Planning Department, the Director of the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration, and the Heads of related units are responsible for implementing this Decision./.