Japanese traders urge increased use of Port of Batangas

The Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines recently urged the implementation of measures that would increase the use of the Port of Batangas, saying that this would attract more investments and generate more jobs in the region as well as ease the congestion in Manila's ports. The organization said that discussions about the issue have been going on for a long time, and that implementation is what is needed. The chamber also suggested a policy that would stipulate the use of the port, rather than just offering incentives for companies to choose it. According to the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), a 50-percent reduction in port dues and dockage fees effective for one year for vessels using the Batangas port did not lead to an increase in usage of the port, and that cargo volume at the port even decreased since the incentive was approved by the President late last year. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) recently funded a study proposing a set of policies to decongest the Manila ports and reroute traffic to the Batangas and Subic ports. It found that port usage in Subic in 2011 was only 5.6 percent of its actual capacity; Batangas' even less at 4.2 percent. The Manila ports, it added, handled 98.2 percent of total volume of container traffic passing through these three places. The JICA study suggests pricing strategies such as reduced wharfage, berthing fees and vessel-related charges in Batangas and Subic ports, as well as a six-year delay in capacity-expansion investments at the South Harbor and Manila International Container Terminal. The PPA told the chamber that it has already endorsed JICA's recommentations to the government. — BM, GMA News