Line of investment hanging on My Thuy port

Last week, Singaporean company Dinamo met with Nguyen Quan Chinh, Deputy Chairman of the Quang Tri People's Committee, and expressed its interest in investing in this.

At the meeting, Dinamo chairman Eric Rockerfeller, after learning about the development and economic prospects that the port can bring the locality and investors, affirmed that his firm will study possibilities of joining the port development in the coming time. Dinamo is capable of raising the necessary funds for the project as well as call on port experts to join the study.

In late 2016, a South Korean firm with solid experience in port management also paid a visit to the province and worked with Mai Thuc, vice chairman of the People's Committee, on the possibilities of joining the operation of the port as a secondary investor.

"Not only these Singaporean and South Korean firms, but also tens of other foreign investors have shown interest in the project," an official at the provincial Department of Planning and Investment told VIR.

Currently, My Thuy International Port Joint Venture Company (MTIP) has been nominated as the investor of the 685-ha project. A number of partners , including South Korean Sungjee-CJ partnership, PineStreet Infra Co., Ltd., and US financial fund Emp Infra LLC, have pledged to finance $535.5 million for the project.

In August 2016, the committee sent a proposal to the prime minister (PM), asking him to approve the project. The PM then asked the committee to reach agreement with the Ministry of Transport on the My Thuy port's scale and capacity before making a decision on the investment.

According to a VIR source, local authorities are talking the Ministry of Transport through technical issues.
As planned, the project will be constructed in three stages, with the first running from 2017-2020 ($230 million). According to design, the 17.5-metre deep port will be able to accommodate vessels of 100,000 deadweight tonnes (DWT).

To prepare for the development, MTIP has inked co-operation deals with several companies, including Sungjee-CJ partnership, South Korean Daewoo Engineering & Construction, and Daewoo Construction Co., Ltd. for constructing the port’s infrastructure, and South Korean Aju Total Company to supply equipment to load and unload cargo at the port.

At present, many projects in the EZ are awaiting approval. About 10 projects have been registered in the EZ with a total investment capital of VND62.3 trillion ($2.83 billion), focusing on seaport services, thermo-power, energy and infrastructure.

“Many local and foreign strategic investors currently want to invest in the zone, such as Vietnam’s Becamex and Vingroup, Thai Amata, and South Korean Hyundai. However, they say they will invest here if the My Thuy port is constructed,” said Chinh.