Trade relies on transportation, and the latter relies on port development, as more than 80% of cargoes are transported by maritime transportation. Therefore, one of the important economic reforms of Myanmar’s transport sector is to develop the ports. As the trade is booming, there has been an annual increase in the number of ships calling to Yangon Port, altogether with cargo throughput year by year. This is the one of the reasons in order to introduce the ICT in port industry in order to achieve the better performance. Moreover, with the progress of the country’s trade procedures, we realize modern ICT is needed to employ to make day-to-day functions more convenient. Moreover, in this current situation, Myanmar’s ports still have to rely on paper documents in order to record the calling of vessels and transportation of cargoes. This creates a bottleneck in order to get better port performance.
Besides, as Myanmar is one of the Southeast Asian Nations, realization of AEC blueprint which includes for the implementation of Single Market Production Base which is required to cooperate by all member countries. So that Port EDI system will lay the groundwork for Myanmar to join the ASEAN Single Window Initiative, connecting the National Single Window to global economic integration. Myanmar aims to join the ASEAN Economic Community by 2018. That’s why, Government decided to implement the Port EDI Project with the help of the Japanese government and the Exchange of Notes (EN) between the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and the Government of Japan was signed on March 19, 2015, and the Grant Agreement between MPA, on behalf of the Ministry of Transport of the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, and the JICA Myanmar Office, on behalf of JICA, was signed on March 26, 2015.
As a consultant company of the Port EDI Project, Mitsubishi Research Institute Inc. (MRI) was chosen as a leading think-tank and consulting/IT solution Service Company, and the Myanma Port Authority along with MRI carried out a preliminary study and a preparatory survey in August, 2014.
Afterwards, Hitachi Solution Ltd., a globally leading technology company, was selected as a main developer which only offering products with ideal solutions to worldwide users with over 400,000 staff around the globe. Since October 2015, MPA staffs and experts from MRI have outlined the port EDI system with the best support of HSOL’s experts.
