Vietnam ports not feasible

Vietnam ports not feasible

HANOI (AFP): An Asian Development Bank (ADB) investment project to upgrade Vietnam's ports at Ho Chi Minh City is not economically feasible and terms of the deal should be altered, the Saigon Port authority was quoted as saying Saturday.

The US$40 million project, which includes a $30 million ADB loan, called for the renovation of the Saigon port, one of 18 ports around Ho Chi Minh City, the official Vietnam News said.

But the Saigon port is "somewhat superfluous" because of the other ports as well as massive port construction elsewhere in the country, the report said.

The port has seen its cargo handling decrease over the past eight months, dropping 10 percent below projections for the year, prompting the harbor authorities to ask for the adjustment, the report said.

Authorities proposed that the ADB reduce the loan interest from 6.11 percent to 2.5 percent, lower the project value to $10 million, and suspend the loan.