Vietnamese and foreign experts shared experiences in calling for private sectors’ engagement in providing seaport, airport and energy services during a conference held by the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) in Hanoi on June 3.

Dr. Warren Mundy, Chairman of Australia’s Productivity Commission, said improving infrastructure systems is needed to increase productivity and competitiveness.

He suggested a number of policies to renovate infrastructure, including the classification of public infrastructure systems like transportation, energy and telecommunications, which are significantly dependent on State expenditure.

Calling for investment from the private sector to the area will help save State resources for other initiatives while creating space for private enterprises to engage in the operation and exploitation of these infrastructures, he said.

He took the privatisation of Australia ’s Brisbane and Melbourne Perth Airports as an example. The airports, which were handed over to a private firm in 1997 under a 49-year leasing contract, saw a surge in the number of passengers and investment through the years, he noted.

Meanwhile, CIEM Director Nguyen Dinh Cung pointed out a number of problems facing Vietnam in privatising airports, including facility conditions, policy gaps and security and defence concerns.

According to Vice Director of the Civil Aviation Agency of Vietnam Vo Huy Cuong, the country’s airport system has been developed on the foundation of military purposes. Only one of the 21 nationwide has been invested in by private businesses, he noted.-VNA