South Sudan turns to river transport to boost trade with Sudan

JUBA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Landlocked South Sudan said Wednesday it has entered negotiations with neighboring Sudan in a bid to reopen river transport and facilitate trade between the two countries.

Moses Hassan Tiel, South Sudan's Minister of Trade, said the Nile River remains the only viable and cheap trade route between Juba and Khartoum as it links the South Sudanese capital, Juba to the strategic Sudanese border town of Kosti.

He said trade between the two countries was impeded by insecurity in past five years, adding that Juba and Khartoum have now embarked on revitalizing the 2012 cooperation agreement to pave way for resumption of cross border trade facilitated by water transport.

Tiel added that reopening of river transport with Sudan would reduce the cost of doing business in the war-torn country, which currently relies on her East African neighbors for imports.

"River transport between Sudan and South Sudan is the most viable route of transport...it is the cheapest mode of transportation between the two countries," he said.

Sudan had stopped river transportation between the two countries in 2012 over unresolved issues following South Sudan's independence in 2011.

Khartoum temporarily reopened it in 2014 to facilitate the transportation of humanitarian aid by the UN, but it still remains closed for trade between the two countries.

Ladu Lukak, Deputy Chairman of the South Sudan Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the latest development, saying that boosting water transportation would help address scarcity of essential goods and also reduce prices of commodities in the East African nation by cutting the cost of importing goods from neighboring countries by road.

"This is good news for the business community and the people of South Sudan because it will help end the high prices in the market. It will also enable us access credit from the Sudanese suppliers because currently the Ugandan traders don't give us goods on credit," Lukak said.

"We are very excited about the initiative made by the ministry of trade because the River Nile is our source of income. Let the two governments continue to engage on opening the river transport as soon as possible because it will reduce the shortage of commodities in the country and also boost trade between the two countries," said Simon Akuei Deng, Secretary General of the South Sudan Chamber of Commerce.