This book provides an understanding of the dynamic regional play in terms of port development in Southeast Asia in the medium term. It presents a computer-based comparative analysis of container flows and transhipment within this region. The study provides a well-considered statistical dissection of the key port players in this part of the world – an analysis of value to businessmen, policy-makers, and observers of Southeast Asian affairs.

This book addresses myriad of issues and challenges in the field of port, maritime and hinterland development in Southeast Asia from multidisciplinary perspectives. Instead of focusing on only certain aspects of the maritime discipline, the book presents a range of different viewpoint from business and management, historical development, geography, law, and others. Although the book is made in the form of an edited book, readers will benefit and gain knowledge on many important issues in the field of port, maritime and hinterland development in Southeast Asia. This book will also be beneficial to all parties in this area, including policy and decision makers, government officials, port authorities, port operators or terminal operators, maritime-related service providers such as freight forwarders in port, ship agents, navigation officers, customs brokers, stevedores and other port users, shippers, passengers, and carriers. This book is also catered for those involved in maritime research or students who take maritime subject, or to the public who are interested in maritime issues. The contributors of this book are experts from diverse backgrounds with extensive experience in the fields of port, maritime and hinterland development. This is because we believe that maritime studies are intertwined with many aspects of life from environmental management to disputes at the sea, which will affect the maritime trade industry. Hence, issues in this book are also various. However, the emphasis is on the development of port, maritime and hinterland sector in Southeast Asia.

This book brings together the past and the future of maritime social and economic development in the region. The various authors identify current as well as past trends in maritime social and economic developments that have propelled the region to being one of the most dynamic expanses in the world and explore certain key issues. It is the hope that this book will serve as resource material to scholars and researchers interested in the maritime issues of Southeast Asia.

South Asia’s trade almost doubled in the past decade, but the share of trade in GDP is still smaller (47 percent) than in East Asia (55 percent), and South Asia’s economic competitiveness continues to lag that of other regions. Part of the problem is the region’s container ports. As a result of inefficiencies, the average cost of exporting or importing a container in the region is more than twice what it is in East Asia. Better port logistics could help increase trade, diversify exports, attract more foreign direct investment, and spur economic growth. As container traffic continues to grow and physical expansion is constrained by the limited supply of available land at most ports, the best way to improve port performance is by increasing productivity. To identify strategies for doing so, this report examines the performance of the 14 largest container ports in the region based on two sets of criteria: operational performance and economic performance. To measure operational performance, the report benchmarks total time at port, waiting time at port, and idle time as a share of total time at berth. To measure economic performance, it benchmarks productivity and efficiency using two useful techniques: Malmquist total factor productivity decomposition and data envelopment analysis. The report identifies key drivers of port performance and examines how differences in performance across ports are related to those drivers. This analysis is based on an original dataset on private sector participation, governance, and competition in South Asia’s container port sector. To highlight the potential gains from improving performance of container ports, the report uses econometric techniques to isolate the impact of efficiency improvements on maritime transport costs and trade. The results suggest that the best strategy for improving port performance in the region is a three-pronged approach that (a) encourages private sector participation through a well-developed enabling environment, including further adoption of the “landlord†? port model; (b) strengthens the governance of port authorities’ boards; and (c) promotes competition between and within ports, in part through transparent and competitive concession bidding.

Over the last twenty years the ASEAN economies have formed the fastest-growing group in the world, and their development has been paralleled by the rapid build-up of infrastructure and transport services. In this volume five researchers trace the processes involved in the development of the transport sector--air, land, and sea--within each ASEAN country in particular and within Southeast Asia in general.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been growing rapidly and become the hope of many leastdeveloped and developing countries around the world. However, many BRI investments have become the focus of criticism and concerns over China’s political and strategic purposes, debttrap, poor governance and corruption, and low-quality development. This thesis aims at clarifying the validity of these accusations and revealing factors influencing the performance of BRI investments, in order to give practical and applicable policy recommendations to partners of the BRI. To fulfil this goal, eleven BRI port investments in Southeast Asia that were approved between January 2010 and December 2018 were examined using the goal-achievement evaluation. This analysis model was implemented in three major steps, including identifying goals, setting criteria and assessing possible impacts of interventions. The evaluations of port projects in Southeast Asia revealed that almost all criticisms towards the BRI were justified, except for debt-trap. However, the validity of the remaining criticisms was different between the six worst projects that failed in almost all criteria and the five successful projects that only failed in less than two criteria. The in-depth analysis identified that political appropriateness was the dominant factor influencing the overall performance of port projects. Another major finding is that the worst projects received the biggest investments from China and the highest level of support from recipients, while witnessing the highest level of China’s control. The research has also shown that China’s propaganda and assertiveness of promoting the BRI were consistent with its efforts to restart and rebrand ports that were built before the announcement of the initiative. The study of China and its partners’ motives pointed out that the failure of BRI port projects was the result of recipients’ corruption and over-dependence on China; and China wanted control of failed projects to pursue its political and strategic interests. This research suggests three courses of actions for recipients to make BRI port investments successful and avoid negative impacts: (i) maintaining economic and political independence when negotiating with China; (ii) developing well-designed approaches and a comprehensive master plan to ensure effectiveness, and (iii) securing political appropriateness with centralized and transparent monitoring.