The Japanese Keihin and Hanshin port areas have been tipped as international freight shipment hubs whose facilities and services will be improved as part of efforts to regain the nation's position as Asia's primary shipping hub, reported the Daily Yomuri.
The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry will decide in early August which harbour areas it will designate as strategic hubs for international shipments of freight containers, narrowing the list of candidates from four domestic port areas to one or two, ministry sources said.
The ministry intends to grant favourable financing to the chosen harbour areas.
However, transforming a domestic harbour area into an Asian hub will require ensuring the volume of cargo collected into the area for shipment from Japan is enough to encourage foreign shipping firms to include the port area in the routes used by large freighters.
With this in mind, some observers said it would be difficult to achieve the ministry's goal just by renovating domestic harbour facilities.
The proposed areas include the Keihin harbour area, which comprises Tokyo, Kawasaki and Yokohama ports. This area handles the largest quantity of ship cargo in the nation.
Other possibilities are the second-ranked Hanshin area comprising Osaka and Kobe ports; the Isewan Bay area comprising Nagoya and Yokkaichi ports and which is located near a concentration of automakers and other manufacturers; and the northern Kyushu port area comprising Hakata and Kitakyushu ports.
Keihin and Hanshin areas are seen as the prime candidates.
The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry will decide in early August which harbour areas it will designate as strategic hubs for international shipments of freight containers, narrowing the list of candidates from four domestic port areas to one or two, ministry sources said.
The ministry intends to grant favourable financing to the chosen harbour areas.
However, transforming a domestic harbour area into an Asian hub will require ensuring the volume of cargo collected into the area for shipment from Japan is enough to encourage foreign shipping firms to include the port area in the routes used by large freighters.
With this in mind, some observers said it would be difficult to achieve the ministry's goal just by renovating domestic harbour facilities.
The proposed areas include the Keihin harbour area, which comprises Tokyo, Kawasaki and Yokohama ports. This area handles the largest quantity of ship cargo in the nation.
Other possibilities are the second-ranked Hanshin area comprising Osaka and Kobe ports; the Isewan Bay area comprising Nagoya and Yokkaichi ports and which is located near a concentration of automakers and other manufacturers; and the northern Kyushu port area comprising Hakata and Kitakyushu ports.
Keihin and Hanshin areas are seen as the prime candidates.