NA to scrutinise capital allocation of Lien Chieu Port in Danang

Lien Chieu Port is designed as a major wharf area in the central region's international gateway port

On October 18, the Government Office sent a document to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Transport, and the Danang People's Committee on the allocation of capital for the project’s deployment.

With respect to Danang city’s proposal on the allocation of capital for the port project, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue has assigned the MPI to review and summarise reports at the upcoming meeting of the government’s Standing Committee.

Before that, the Danang People's Committee has proposed the prime minister, the National Assembly (NA)’s Finance and Budget Committee, and relevant ministries to allocate VND500 billion ($21.7 million) sourced from the mid-term public investment plan for 2016-2020, paving the way for the project to start work during 2019-2020.

To finalise the project according to the approved scale, Danang wanted the prime minister and the NA’s Finance and Budget Committee to consider capital allocation for the project when reviewing the mid-term public investment plan for 2021-2025.

According to the project’s pre-feasibility study, Lien Chieu Port will become a major wharf area of an international gateway port in the central region, having the capacity to receive ships up to 100,000 dead weight tonnage (DWT), and container ships with capacity from 6,000 to 8,000TEUs.

The infrastructure for the port’s two terminals is estimated to cost more than VND3.4 trillion ($147.8 million), more than VND2.99 trillion ($130 million) of which is construction costs, while the rest is the cost of equipment and site clearance, among others.

To lift the project off the drawing board, Danang proposes sourcing 87.4 per cent of the total investment value from the central budget, equal to VND2.99 trillion ($130 million).

The Ministry of Transport’s budget for the project would be sourced from the mid-term public investment plan for 2016-2020, while Danang city will also allocate VND433 billion ($18.8 million), equal the remaining 12.6 per cent of the total investment capital, for the project’s implementation.

Danang expects investment preparation to be finalised next year (2019) and the project will begin construction and be put into operation during 2020-2022.