SBR- Content.pmd - INBO

State of the Basin Report - 20035. Inland ports and intermodal connectionsPort facilities along the Mekong and its tributaries range from crude, makeshift landings formed byboats moored side by side against the river bank, to concrete ferry ramps (as in Lao PDR andThailand), to purpose-built concrete quay structures equipped with modern cargo handlingtechnology. Port infrastructure is at its most sophisticated level in the Mekong Delta in Viet Nam,where five maritime bulk-handling ports (three on the Mekong River and two on the Bassac River)share with the ports of Ho Chi Minh City the task of consolidating and dispatching 90 percent ofViet Nam’s annual exports of rice. Among these ports is Can Tho (located on the Bassac Riverabout 80 km upstream of the estuary), which has been designated for expansion and improvementunder the World Bank’s “Viet Nam Inland Waterways and Port Modernization Project”. As part ofthis project, Can Tho Port is being equipped with high capacity cargo handling equipment, includingmobile cranes for the lifting of containers.Twenty-three of the 25 major ports in the Lower Mekong Basin (four in Thailand, eight in LaoPDR, six in Cambodia and seven in Viet Nam) are connected to main (either national or provincial)roads. The only exceptions are two ports located between Vientiane and Luang Prabang. However,the density of the main road networks in the vicinity of ports varies widely. It is densest in Thailand,and least dense in Lao PDR and Cambodia. In the Mekong Delta in Viet Nam, the low-lying andswampy nature of the terrain has, until recently, imposed a barrier to the expansion and improvementof the main road network. This has been recognised as a major impediment to the development ofrural and industrial communities in the delta. Thus, a World Bank-funded project is now underwayto remove this impediment by upgrading segments of Highway 1, as well as national and provincialroads in the delta provinces. i This project may be expected to contribute significantly to improvingthe intermodal linkages of several delta ports, including Can Tho.The World Bank is assisting with the improvementof Can Tho Port in Viet NamiPO42927 Mekong Transport and Flood Protection Project (approved on 20 December 2000, for completion by 30June 2006).228