Charges for transporting goods in containers from Vietnam to international destinations are now 20- 30 percent higher than those in regional countries, mainly due to insufficient investment, local newspaper Vietnam Economic Times reported Monday.

The freight for shipping a container of frozen goods from Vietnam's southern Ho Chi Minh City to China's Macao is some 750 U.S. dollars higher than that from Thailand to the Chinese region, mainly because Vietnam has yet to have proper plans and investment in developing large seaports and seagoing vessels.

Now, no seaports in Vietnam are eligible for receiving large ships carrying containers directly to the United States. Vietnamese exports due for delivery to the United States, Europe, Australia and Africa must undergo transit in some Asian countries and regions like China's Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, said the report.

Vietnamese shipping lines have to pay many fees relating to transit, which are estimated at 300 million dollars each year.

To deal with the situation, Vietnam is appealing for foreign investment in building the Van Phong transshipment port in central Khanh Hoa province with total capital of 3,150 billion Vietnamese dong (198.1 million dollars). The future deepwater port will be able to receive large container ships.

Vietnam, home to 119 seaports, received 74,500 ships and handled 127.6 million tons of cargoes in 2004. Its maritime sector has targeted an annual growth of 18 percent in ship receiving and of 10 percent in cargo unloading since 2005, according to the Maritime Administration under the country's Transport Ministry.

Source: Xinhua