Saigon Port floats radical joint plans

The ventures would ease congestion at southern ports

A Saigon Port source last week told Vietnam Investment Review that it has submitted applications for two joint venture ports with Denmark’s Maersk A/S and Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).
If approved, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, 125km southeast from Ho Chi Minh City, will be the site of two large ports capable of receiving ships of 80,000dwt. Currently, Vietnamese ports can accommodate ships below 50,000dwt.
“The government’s policy allows the establishment of joint venture ports with foreign companies. Our two partners are both internationally renowned, so [their involvement] will be good for the industry,” said the Saigon Port source.
Furthermore, he said the new ports were already specified in the government’s master plan for port development to 2010.
To be located upstream of the Cai Mep International Container Port, the Saigon Port joint venture with Maersk A/S will cost $187 million in investment capital for the construction of two wharves. When completed in 2010, the wharves will be able to upload and download 950,000TEUs per year.
Meanwhile, the joint venture with PSA, located downstream from the Thi Vai International General Port, will cost $165m for the first phase, ending in 2010, and $133m for the second phase, to 2017. Four wharves will be built in the two stages to reach a throughput capacity of 1.5 million TEUs per year.
Saigon Port will hold 51 per cent of the capital in the two new ports, which are part of the government’s plan to




relocate ports from the urban area of Ho Chi Minh City to outside regions due to confined space for expansion.
In August last year, the Prime Minister approved detailed zoning for the Port Group 5, one of the eight groups of ports mapped out nationwide in the development master plan to 2010 endorsed by the government seven years ago. Group 5 encompasses ports in Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau.
With its ability to accommodate ships of up to 80,000dwt, Thi Vai River, in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, claims the advantage for the development of large ports, according to the Ministry of Transport and Communication.
Aiming at 200 million TEUs of imports and exports put through Vietnamese ports by the end of the decade, the government has allowed private sector investment, both domestic and overseas, to be involved in port development. Foreign investment has even been considered important in the building of deep sea ports to accommodate the growth of containerised cargo.
Singapore’s PSA officials said they were aware of the increasing container volumes through Vietnam’s ports and continued to monitor its development in Vietnam.



No. 772/July 31-August 6, 2006