The Ports Section of UNCTAD’s (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) Shipping Division has issued two publications to aid port planners in developing countries: “Port Development—A Handbook for Planners in Developing Countries”, and “Appraisal of Port Investments”. Financed by means of a generous grant from the Governments of Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, they are intended to contribute to the establishment of a worldwide system of efficient ports. The serious consequences of allowing port infrastructure to lag behind growth in trade have been brought home strikingly in recent years by the enormous port congestion costs that certain developing countries have incurred; for 1976, for example, UNCTAD puts the figure at more than $5 billion. In helping port planners to draw up plans for the port facilities that will be required to accommodate future trade, the two UNCTAD publications are addressing themselves to an important aspect of economic development.

“Port Development—A Handbook for Planners in Developing Countries”, (TD/B/C.4/175—Sales Number E.77.IID.8, price U.S.$12), is a reference book summarising the basic principles of modern port planning. It offers guidance in the task of formulating a national port development policy and of preparing realistic programmes for the extension and improvement of individual ports. The first part of the handbook deals with general principles of port planning. A series of steps to follow has been outlined to make the work of planners more systematic and efficient. Chapters on traffic forecasting, productivity forecasting, master planning and civil engineering aspects are included. Sections on inland transport and maintenance policy complete the first part of the handbook.

In the second part of the handbook, procedures are described for the preparation of plans for general cargo berths and for specialised terminals where containers or bulk cargoes are to be handled. A set of straightforward methods to quantify various alternatives has been developed by UNCTAD, mainly in the form of curves and diagrams. The decision to develop these simple manual methods has been strengthened by the appreciation that the uncertainty and inexactness of the input information is bound to continue for many more years during the present period of rapid technological change.

“Appraisal of Port Investments”, (TD/B/C.4/174—Sales price U.S.$8), commences with a general discussion of the concepts of economic costs and benefits in the ports field, and the methods of comparing them. Following this discussion, case studies are presented to illustrate the various methods of investment appraisal. These case studies, while relating to hypothetical countries, have been selected to show the types of investment evaluations that developing countries are likely to face when choosing from alternative plans.

Both publications can be obtained from the United Nations Sales Section, Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland. They are available free of charge to official bodies in developing countries.