VIETNAM: Sustainable Financing Solutions for Development: A Strategy for Vietnam’s Inland Waterways Transport

This study was jointly funded by the PPIAF and the Government of Australia. The report, prepared by a World Bank team, provides a comprehensive review and assessment of the challenges that the sector faces, along with a reform program recommended to the Government of Vietnam that could help improve the enabling environment for the inland waterways transport industry and further its growth and technical sophistication. The report highlights the need for a range of reforms, focusing on institutional reforms such as separating infrastructure management from industry regulation; on improving the enabling environment by making current sector laws and regulations more user accessible by issuing handbooks; on rebalancing public sector funding from roads to inland waterways; and on developing a robust and transparent pathway for private sector participation in the provision of infrastructure as well as operation and maintenance services in the sector.  With proper foresight, funding and political will, the reform program will help the government overcome many of the obstacles that are holding back the full potential of inland waterways transport in Vietnam. Continuing to boost Vietnam’s inland waterways network infrastructure will improve and enhance the environmental advantages of water transport, where greenhouse gas emissions per ton-km are two to three times lower than for road transport. The role of inland waterways transport in the country’s development is more important than ever.