Mega projects turn port city into transport hub

With a range of infrastructure projects in the works, Haiphong is primed to become a massive centre of trade
Photo: Le Toan

At the seminar, “Haiphong Mega Infrastructure Cluster-Gateway of the North of Vietnam”, held last week by the Haiphong People’s Committee and Dinh Vu Industrial Zone JSC, Le Thanh Son, Deputy Chairman of the committee, said that the combination of the mega infrastructure projects about to be constructed in the city, and the local government’s determination to improve the investment environment would turn Haiphong into an ideal location for local as well as international investors.

“The city is aiming to optimise its potential, advantages, and opportunities to make a breakthrough and become a hub of industry and services with superior competitiveness, turning it into a green, civilised, and modern port city. Foreign investment attraction plays a very important role in the achievement of this target,” said Son.

Mega infrastructure projects being carried out in the city include the Haiphong international gateway port, the Cat Bi international airport, the Tan Vu-Lach Huyen bridge, and the Hanoi-Haiphong expressway. The combined investment capital required for these projects is $4.1 billion.

The Tan Vu-Lach Huyen road and the sea-crossing bridge which connects Haiphong with the Lach Huyen port is already 40 per cent completed, and is expected to be operational by May 2017. As of September, the 105-kilometre Hanoi-Haiphong expressway was 70 kilometres towards its final destination, and the remainder is due to be finished by December this year.

Meanwhile, the Cat Bi international airport, if completed – as scheduled – in the third quarter of 2016, will be able to serve six million passengers per year. Direct passenger flights from Haiphong to Singapore, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea are planned in the first phase.

Adjacent to the deepest port in the north of Vietnam, accessible for 100,000 dead weight tonnage vessels, an airport with international and domestic flights, and only one hour from Hanoi by car, Haiphong is set to become a transportation hub, according to Son.

Located in the centre of these key infrastructure developments, the Deep C/DVIZ industrial cluster – an expansion of the original Dinh Vu Industrial Zone (DVIZ) project developed by Dinh Vu Industrial Zone JSC – offers investors over 1,000 hectares of industrial land with utilities. To date, the DVIZ has attracted $3 billion of investment with 55 projects from international and local names such as Knauf, C.Steinweg, Chevron, Bridgestone, IHI, and Petrolimex.