Belgium’s Rent A Port joins project to clean Halong Bay

According to the pre-feasibility study carried out by Belgian experts, the draft report was handed to Chairman of the Quang Ninh People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Long on December 22. It will cost an estimated sum of $130 million to collect and treat the existing oil pollution and waste in the bay.

Rent A Port will help raise this sum, through grants and official development assistance from European governments. The project, which includes both the cleaning of the bay and treatment of the collected waste, will be carried out over the course of ten years.

The initiative to clean up Halong bay began a few months ago following the meeting between President of the Belgian Senate Christine Defraigne and the Chairman of Quang Ninh People’s Committee. At the meeting, in light of growing concern over the pollution of Halong Bay, the Belgian delegation promised to fund the study to identify and quantify the various types of pollution as well as the methods and new technologies to clean-up in the bay. Notably, the collected waste will be transformed into electricity.

The study, co-financed by the American Fund Westpac and its Belgian counterpart Westpac Belgium, started at the beginning of November with the measurement of the bay using a special boat and a drone which measured and quantified the amount and the various types of pollution. After this was completed, calculations were made to ascertain the necessary budget for the clean-up.

The Belgian team will work with the province’s environmental team to assess the influx of pollution during the ten years to come. In March 2016, they will submit the final report which will determine the exact budget needed for the clean up of the bay in a comprehensive manner.

“We are committed to a long-term business strategy in Vietnam, where Rent A Port will also apply its core philosophy to develop sustainably and protect the environment. The project to clean up Halong Bay is part of our efforts to contribute to the community where we operate,” said Marc Stordiau, CEO of Rent A Port.

Last December, Rent A Port was granted an investment certificate for an investment sum of $128 million to develop the 487.4 hectare Tien Phong industrial zone (IZ) in the Dam Nha Mac area in Quang Yen commune in Quang Ninh.

The company is also expanding its Dinh Vu IZ in the northern port city of Haiphong with the total investment capital of $250 million in the Deep C cluster. In close proximity to the upcoming Lach Huyen International Port (the largest of its kind in the north of Vietnam), Cat Bi International Airport, and the Hanoi-Haiphong expressway, tenants in this cluster can capitalise on its unique advantages in logistics.

Halong Bay, in the Gulf of Tonkin, contains some 1,600 islands and islets. Owing to their precipitous topography, most of the islands are uninhabited and are thus unmarked by human presence. Despite its long history of human use, the bay is not seriously degraded; however, current levels of pollution must be reduced if the bay is to retain its status as the jewel in Vietnam’s crown. Outstanding features include magnificent towering limestone pillars, as well as arches and caves, which are among the best examples of these features to be found anywhere in the world.