BANGKOK, Nov 9 (TNA) — The Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) plans to develop the Laem Chabang port in Chon Buri province into a smart port to save energy worth 700 million baht and create extra economic value of 1 billion baht a year.
DEPA president Nuttapong Nimmanphatcharin said DEPA was assigned to develop smart cities in the Eastern Economic Corridor and found from its survey that a smart Laem Chabang port would generate considerable economic and environmental benefits.
His agency found heavy traffic congestion in the port and in its vicinity when large cargo ships arrived. The congestion caused economic and environment damage to the port and nearby communities, Mr Nuttapong said.
“Therefore, DEPA together with the Port Authority of Thailand will develop a smart port system there to integrate the traffic management of trucks, terminals and ships with the National Single Window of the Customs Department. This will solve traffic congestion within the Laem Chabang port and save energy worth 700 million baht a year that trucks normally consume in their queues,” Mr Nuttapong said.
The smart port system could also reduce the trips of unloaded trucks, streamline import and export procedures and generate money circulation worth at least 1 billion baht a year in the national economy, he said.
The smart port initiative at the Laem Chabang port was a pilot project that would be implemented at other ports later, the DEPA president said. (TNA)
