SBR- Content.pmd - INBO

State of the Basin Report - 200310. Potential for operational linkage of IWT with other transport modesThe increasing demand for transportation of heavy commodities such as logs and constructionmaterials is beginning to pose major problems for road maintenance, especially in Lao PDR andCambodia. With limited road infrastructure, both countries can ill afford to have their road surfacesseverely damaged by overloaded trucks. However, such threats translate into opportunities forIWT, since boats are able to take over the linehaul transport of heavy commodities from truckswithout the necessity of upgrading either the capacity of boat fleets or of existing portinfrastructure.In Lao PDR, one such opportunity could involve the integration of road and inland waterwaytransport in the movement of cement traffic, amounting to more than 350,000 tonnes per year.Two plants recently constructed under joint Chinese/Lao ownership at Vang Vien, about 150 kmnorth of Vientiane, have the capacity to produce up to 375,000 tonnes of cement annually,equivalent to the entire national demand for cement. However, as a result of the poor condition ofthe national highway network (and consequently extended truck cycle times), the companyoperating these plants has been unable to secure sufficient trucks to transport cement. A solutionto this problem could involve trucking the cement about 80 km to a port on the Mekong River,and then completing distribution to Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Savannakhet by boats, eachwith a minimum capacity of 50 DWT. The economics of this type of integrated transport operationwould be enhanced by the possibility of back-hauling limestone from Savannakhet (a major sourceof supply for the cement plants). r11. Potential for increased international navigationThe adoption in 2001 of a harmonised system of aids to navigation on the Mekong River and itsassociated waterways, developed jointly by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission(ESCAP) and the Mekong River Commission, will remove at least one significant barrier tointernational navigation within both the Upper and Lower Mekong Rivers.There appear to be few, if any, difficulties of an institutional nature impeding international navigationbetween China and Thailand (affecting the ports of Chiang Saen and Chiang Khong in the LMB), nor,for that matter, between Thailand or Lao PDR, since existing transit agreements between these countrieshave been in force for many years. Between Lao PDR and Cambodia, navigation is prevented by thephysical obstacle of the Khone Falls. However, between Cambodia and Viet Nam, internationalnavigation continues to be restricted by a delay in realising an agreement on protocol terms.Apart from institutional impediments, there should be no reason why the port of Phnom Penh shouldnot capture a major share of international cargo traffic originating from, or bound for, countries tothe northeast of Cambodia, especially China, Japan, the Philippines and the Republic of Korea aswell as to and from Singapore and Viet Nam. If such traffic is to be distributed instead throughSihanoukville Port, a distance penalty of 490 km will be incurred. Currently, the direct river journeytakes about the same time as a journey to Sihanoukville, but this is due to a prohibition on navigationof the river by night, as well as to delays associated with border crossing formalities. Elimination ofthese river transit delays would result in a time saving of at least 12 hours for the direct river journeyover the Sihanoukville option.rFrom information supplied by the Ministry of Commerce, Lao PDR, during the MRC mission to Vientianeduring April 2002.238