Manila drowning under glut of shipping containers

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Just how bad has congestion at Manila, gateway to the Philippines, become? Really, really bad, according to this report from Reuters. A seven-month ban on trucks using the city’s roads during daytime hours has led to a backlog of around 20,000 containers, which will take months to clear, and comes far too late for a lot of  frustrated shippers who needed to see their export boxes loaded in time for the Christmas shopping season in the West. The country boasts the second fastest trade growth in Asia after China, but that is under threat unless it can modernise its ports and hinterland infrastructure.