Hanoi (VNA) – The maritime sector shouldpay more attention to seaport planning, especially in the central and theMekong Delta regions, said Transport Minister Nguyen Van The.

Speaking at a conference in Hanoi on January 2, the minister highlighted thespecial significance of the maritime sector as most of cargos from foreigncountries are handled through seaports before entering the Vietnamese market.

To attract major international ships, Vietnamese seaports and maritimebusinesses should promptly form a big database in order to fully automateadministrative procedures at the ports, he said.

The official also asked the sector to review its human resources and tighten itslinks with the railway and waterway sectors.

Lauding the sector’s efforts in administrative reform and application ofachievements of the fourth Industrial Revolution, The said it has significantlycontributed to national socio-economic development.

Nguyen Xuan Sang, head of the Vietnam Maritime Administration, reported that asof December 2018, Vietnam had 1,593 ships with total capacity of about 7.8million DWT, ranking fourth in ASEAN and 30th globally.

The country is home to 272 wharfs with accumulated annual capacity exceeding550 million tonnes.

Last year, local seaports handled about 524.7 million tonnes of cargo, up 19percent year-on-year, and served 5.8 million passengers, up 28.9 percentagainst 2017.

Around 1,300 businesses in the country are providing maritime services.However, they have fulfilled only a quarter of the market demand. -VNA