THE Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (Asean) 2011-2015 integration master plan includes a transportation mode familiar to Philippine shippers: the ro-ro or roll on-roll off.
Asean is keen on applying ro-ro to push intra-regional transportation connectivity, said Enrico Basilio, REID Foundation president, before delegates of last week’s Supply Chain Management Association of the Philippines annual conference and exhibit at the EDSA Shangri-La.
Asean heads of states have initially agreed to adopt ro-ro — one of six Asean priority projects — along the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asian Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) for connection to ro-ro services between China and Japan.?
A feasibility study will be conducted on other Asean ro-ro links in time for the implementation of the master plan before end-2015.
The member economies are now laying the groundwork to facilitate the implementation of the Asean ro-ro system, including the kind of ships and trucks to be used; registration of ships and vehicles; port policies such as the promotion of container-chassis ro-ro; standardization of ro-ro ports; freight and logistics support; and customs, immigration and quarantine.
