Transport and shipping
Transport and shipping policy and administration
Vietnam road fee suspended starting in 2016
The Government has agreed on suspending the collection of the controversial road maintenance fees from motorbike users starting in 2016 after public criticism said the fee was unfair. The decision was reached in a monthly regular cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung that ...
Lao officials balk at China’s loan terms for railway project
Lao government officials have expressed concern about the interest rate on a U.S. $500 million loan from China to build a multibillion-dollar, high-speed railway through the Southeast Asian nation, and have asked political leaders to negotiate a lower rate, a high-ranking Lao official said. Keep reading ...
State Railway of Thailand gets green light for Airport Rail Link train purchase
The Transport Ministry has given permission for the State Railway of Thailand to continue with its controversial plan to procure seven new trains for the Airport Rail Link. Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said on 28 September the purchase was a matter of urgency. Keep reading ...
Vietnam draft decree on sea freight transparency worries foreign shipping lines
Several foreign logistics companies have expressed concern about a proposed government decree requiring shipping companies to publicize their freight tariffs to protect exporters and importers, the media reported 21 September. Switzerland-based MSC, French-owned CMA-GM, and Singaporean-owned APL-NOL voiced their opinion through London-headquartered law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus ...
Express road to airport in works
The Ministry of Public Works and Transport on 22 September announced the start of feasibility studies aimed at building an express elevated toll road that would extend from Phnom Penh’s city centre to the airport by 2021. Public Works Minister Tram Iv Tek said that China’s Henan ...
Laos to receive technical training from Chinese on proposed high-speed railway
Chinese railway experts are providing technical training this month for Lao officials in charge of a U.S. $7 billion high-speed railway project that will link the two neighboring countries and extend to Thailand, although the Chinese government has yet to sign a contract to begin ...
State Railway of Thailand to clarify Airport Link train purchase
The Transport Ministry on 17 September ordered the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) to provide a full report on its 4.4-billion-baht purchase of seven trains for the Airport Rail Link project after the agency was accused of procurement fraud. Deputy Transport Minister Omsin Cheewapreuk asked SRT governor Wuthichart ...
Vietnam builds a $1.7 billion port, and now it lies waiting for ships
More than six years since its opening, a VND40-trillion (US$1.75 billion) deep-river port complex in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau is still struggling to reach its designed capacity. Statistics from the province’s transport department showed that a total of 1.16 million TEUs were handled ...
Capital’s port on course for IPO
Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) will hold a meeting next week to review the submitted financial statements of Phnom Penh Autonomous Port, Cambodia’s second-largest port, and to consider its eligibility to list and trade its securities on the stock exchange, a CSX official said on 16 ...
Striking bus drivers back behind the wheel – for now
Most striking bus drivers returned to work on 16 September following two days of wildcat strikes that saw hundreds walk off the job in response to an increase in traffic fines. The drivers were cajoled back onto their buses by owners, but many said they would launch ...
