An Analysis of Container Port Efficiency in ASEAN

Abstract

In order to improve the overall ASEAN maritime transport network, each port's efficiency is regarded as a crucial factor that should be calculated periodically. This study evaluated the relative efficiency of container port operations of 32 ports belonging to 9 ASEAN nations using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). It found that 2 out of 32 ports in 2010 were measured as efficient ports. This study yielded two major findings. Firstly, the ports assessed as inefficient need to benchmark similar ports in size and structure from the ports that are assessed as efficient to improve their efficiency. Secondly, these results could be used to determine potential candidates and country for an international port development co-operation programme with Korea to improve the performance of the entire ASEAN port network by developing the infrastructures of ill-equipped ports.