Recent Policy Development for Strengthening Container Terminal Competitiveness and its Efficiency

Abstract

A recent economic growth enabled Asian container hubs to undertake dramatic innovation of terminal management and operations which resulted in rapid increase in the container throughput. On the other hand, former container hubs of Japan such as Kobe have stagnated in the last decade because of the high port charges and time consuming port procedures.

This study describes recent policy development undertaken by the Japanese government to improve port competitiveness with launching new soft loan and taxation measures for assisting private terminal operators. This study also examines the policy by evaluating its efficiency and effectiveness.