Towards Sustainable ASEAN Port Development: Challenges and Opportunities for Vietnamese Ports

Sustainability agendas are challenging port authorities around the world to find ways of operating and managing their ports efficiently and effectively in terms of economic, social, as well as environmental development. In this respect, governments in ASEAN countries have been implementing various green activities seeking to reduce the environmental impact of shipping and related activities. In this connection, most studies in the existing literature mainly focus on the environmental aspects of sustainable development and have not clearly explained what sustainable port development exactly entails. Furthermore, most of these studies emphasized on the impact of port development and overlooked what factors influence sustainable port development. To address these gaps, this research aim to explore the main factors shaping sustainable port development. This was conducted through a comprehensive review of related literature as well as confirmatory in-depth interviews with port authorities. As a result, findings from this research would help identify key elements of sustainable port development from port authorities’ perspective. The challenges, opportunities and managerial implications for Vietnamese ports are also discussed accordingly.