Around the world, the broad pattern of port activities has changed radically since 1960s. International trade has become a major vehicle for accelerating economic growth in many countries. Trade has linked up all national economies into a single world...
Around the world, the broad pattern of port activities has changed radically since 1960s. International trade has become a major vehicle for accelerating economic growth in many countries. Trade has linked up all national economies into a single world economic system. This vital link has been ensured through the world trade transportation system. Great changes have taken place in the volume and variety of trade and in the speed of movement of traded goods. Transport, especially maritime transport, by which even today more than 90 % of the world trade volume is moved, has also changed greatly in organisation and technique, to meet ever growing requirements of trade. This is the new situation the world's ports are facing today.<br/>
Ports certainly cannot remain unchanged. They, in fact, have a new role to play. The new trade and transport requirements are providing the ports both opportunities and risks. Their response to this new situation will determine the success or failure of each port. In particular, ports have been trying to. be a major port as a service centre under the severe competitive market in terms of port traffic.<br/>
In this paper, some questions are raised and attempts are made to answer them: why should ports be engaged in this new role: and how can ports play this new role, etc. These are analysed both by an examination of different kinds of port competitions and by a description of port marketing activities and techniques.