A few days ago, we got hold of a copy of “Top 100 Container Ports 2010” produced by Cargo Systems, a publication of the UK-based Informa. Our eyes instinctively darted down the list to find the Port of Manila. It was no. 33 with a total throughput in 2009 of 3.44 million TEUs. It had risen from no. 40 in 2008, thanks to a 15.5% volume increase. On the face of it, this is something to be ecstatic over. Only a handful of ports worldwide managed to lift their throughputs last year due to the global downturn.
The good thing about placing 33rd amongst a hundred is that you have 67 others trailing behind you. Incredible as it may sound, Manila overshadowed last year the ports of Yokohama (30), Kobe (46), Nagoya (54) and Osaka (55) in Japan; Taiwan’s Keelung (68) and Taichung (88); Karachi (79) in Pakistan; Bangkok (84) in Thailand; and Malaysia’s Penang (100). It even beat the UK’s Felixtowe (39) and Belgium’s Zeebrugge (47).
But all this is just so much consolation. The fact remains, as we pointed out in a recent blog post, that Manila has dramatically slipped in the rankings in just two decades. Last year, it was outpaced by six Southeast Asian ports: Port Klang (13) and Tanjung Pelepas (17) in Malaysia; Laem Chabang in Thailand (20); Jakarta (26) in Indonesia; Ho Chi Minh (29) in Vietnam; and Colombo (32) in Sri Lanka.
Why so? The same question intrigues us each time we hear the statement that Thailand is the world’s largest rice exporter whilst the Philippines is the biggest importer of the grain. How ironic. The Thais learned to plant rice the modern way at the International Rice Research Institute in Los Baños town just south of Manila. Cargo System’s Top 100 may well serve as a mirror for Filipinos. But Filipinos are not a soul-searching race. They busy themselves with the “who” and the “what” and seldom with the “why” and “wherefore.” Small wonder lessons from the past are also seldom learnt. ~Barista Uno
