SBR- Content.pmd - INBO

State of the Basin Report - 2003In Viet Nam, some 90 percent of theexport tonnage of rice and some 60percent of the export tonnage of fruit andvegetables (fresh and processed)originates in the Mekong Delta and istransported by inland waterway vesselsat least as far as Ho Chi Minh City andthe main export ports on the Mekong andBassac Rivers. The tonnage and valueof export rice transported in 1999 on thewaterways of the Mekong Delta wasestimated at approximately 4.06 milliontonnes and $1,800 million. hCorresponding estimates of the volumeand value of fresh and processed fruitand vegetable exports in the same yearIn the Mekong Delta in Viet Nam, 90 percent of exportedrice and 60 percent of exported fruits and vegetables aretransported to ports by inland waterwayswere 63,000 and $63 million respectively. Thus, the combined value of agricultural exports movedby inland waterway vessels in the Mekong Delta can be estimated at nearly $2,000 million annually.If this figure was augmented by the value of other export commodities and by the value of thesizeable import volumes moving into the region, it is not inconceivable that the total value of thetrade being moved annually on the waterways of the Mekong Delta could amount to $4,000million, or nearly 20 percent of the country’s overall foreign trade value.4. River navigation conditionsUnlike some of the world’s great waterways, the flow and depth of the Mekong is essentiallyunregulated. This means that the passage of vessels along much of the river is constrained by thelimited depth of water available in the main navigation channels during the dry season, and in theestuaries during low tide. Infrastructure for navigation along the river is otherwise limited to dredgingat a very few locations, bank protection, the provision of landing and cargo handling facilities atinland ports, and the installation of navigational aids.All sections of the Mekong River and its associated waterways are navigable during the high waterseason (i.e. for about eight months of the year), with the exception of a 14-km section, just north ofthe border between Cambodia and Lao PDR, which contains the impassable barrier of the KhoneFalls. Of the remaining sections, one (of 261 km between Savannakhet and Pakse) is only navigableduring the low water season by vessels smaller than 10 dead weight tonnes (DWT), and severalother sections are navigable at low water with lesser (but still severe) restrictions on vessel size.hEstimates by the author based on export volume and value data taken from the Viet Nam National StatisticalYearbook, 2000.224