Making seaports a growth engine

Issue open policies

Present at Vung Ang port, we witnessed each truck carrying wood chips and construction materials being gathered at the wharf, then loaded onto the conveyor belt and loaded into the ship's hold. Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Director of Lao-Viet International Port Joint Stock Company, the unit operating Vung Ang port, said: "The company is currently managing and operating berths 1, 2, 3 with a capacity of up to 6-8 million tons of cargo per year. Recently, the goods transported through Vung Ang port have been stable, mainly bulk cargo, general cargo, and transit goods from Laos such as wood chips, stones, and construction materials."

According to the Government's planning, Ha Tinh seaport is a type I port, serving inter-regional socio-economic development, transferring part of transit goods to Laos and the Northeast of Thailand. In particular, the Vung Ang-Son Duong port cluster has a depth of 11-22m, little sedimentation is an ideal condition for developing an international deep-water transit port system, which can receive ships with a tonnage of 50,000-300,000 DWT, container ships with a capacity of up to 4,000 TEU. The planning of Ha Tinh province for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, determines that the Vung Ang Economic Zone with the core being the Formosa Steel Complex, the Vung Ang-Son Duong port cluster is a driving force for economic growth of the province.

Resolution No. 09-NQ/TU on the development of Vung Ang Economic Zone in the period of 2021-2025, with a vision to 2030 of the Ha Tinh Provincial Party Committee also emphasized the construction and development of the Vung Ang-Son Duong port cluster, improving the capacity to receive large-tonnage ships associated with the capacity to load and unload goods through the port; ensuring compliance with the development trend of international shipping vessels. At the 21st session, the 17th term People's Council of Ha Tinh province passed Resolution No. 276/2021/NQ-HDND stipulating support policies for shipping lines opening container shipping routes and subjects with goods transported by container through Vung Ang port.

Accordingly, shipping lines licensed to operate container transportation business according to regulations and performing cargo delivery or loading at Vung Ang port according to the route with a minimum frequency of 2 port calls per month will be supported with VND 200,000,000/port call. Enterprises, organizations and individuals exporting or importing goods by container through Vung Ang port and opening declarations at branches under the Ha Tinh Provincial Customs Department or other enterprises, organizations and individuals with goods transported by container through Vung Ang port (except temporarily imported and re-exported goods, transit goods) will be supported with VND 700,000 for 20-foot containers; VND 1,000,000 for containers of 40 feet or more. Although the economic conditions of Ha Tinh province are still difficult, the province has still decided to spend "a lot of money", issue open policies, attract shipping lines and businesses to invest and transport goods through Vung Ang port.

Based on preferential policies, the People's Committee of Ha Tinh province and Saigon Newport Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in investment, exploitation and development of seaports and logistics centers in Vung Ang-Son Duong. From here, the domestic sea transport service route connecting goods from Hai Phong-Vung Ang-Ho Chi Minh City and vice versa was formed, operating stably with 2-4 trips/month, ensuring the transportation needs of businesses in the province.

Attracting businesses to open routes

According to information from Lao-Viet International Port Joint Stock Company, 98% of goods transported through Vung Ang port are bulk and packaged goods, only 2% are equipment and containers. Vung Ang Economic Zone is still dependent on iron and steel products of Formosa Steel Complex and thermal power, oil and gas. The container transport service route in cooperation with Saigon New Port has just been put into operation, with a frequency of only 2-4 trips/month, so the coverage is not high. The owners of containers through the port are mainly small and processing enterprises, so they have to concentrate on parent companies to export large shipments.

On the other hand, the Vung Ang-Son Duong port cluster has been in operation for decades, but up to now, the logistics and port system has not developed commensurate with its potential and advantages. Currently, the Vung Ang-Son Duong port cluster has only 1 general port and 3 specialized ports. Apart from the partner, Tan Cang Saigon Corporation, up to now, no shipping line has opened a container shipping route in Ha Tinh, and has not developed an international container shipping route. Therefore, businesses in Ha Tinh still have to transport goods by road to major ports such as Hai Phong and Saigon for export.

Up to now, in the economic zones and industrial parks of Ha Tinh province, there are 190 valid investment projects, of which 153 projects are in Vung Ang Economic Zone, including 56 projects with foreign investment capital. However, Vung Ang port has not yet formed an international container shipping route. Mr. Nguyen Hung Cuong, General Director of Nam Ha Tinh Seafood Import-Export Joint Stock Company, shared: “Our company processes a number of seafood products for export to the Japanese market and imports raw materials from Indonesia. Although located near Vung Ang port, our company cannot take advantage of this because Vung Ang port currently does not have a service to provide refrigerated containers and an international shipping route. Therefore, to export orders to Japan, we have to rent refrigerated containers to transport by road to Hai Phong port before exporting, which increases many costs.”

To develop seaports and increase the volume of containerized cargo through the port, the decisive factor is the cargo market. Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan commented: "Container shipping lines will study whether the volume of cargo in the region is abundant and has much potential or not to develop strategies and decide to invest in opening routes. Therefore, the fundamental solution that Ha Tinh must aim for is to continue to attract businesses to invest in the field of large-scale processing and manufacturing, export-oriented; complete the detailed planning of Vung Ang-Son Duong seaport so that businesses can come to invest long-term".

To turn the Vung Ang-Son Duong port cluster into a driving force for Ha Tinh's economic growth, along with factors of attraction policies and infrastructure investment, seaport operators also need to actively improve the quality of service provision, apply science and technology to reduce time and costs for ship owners and cargo owners; invest in human resources with certificates for inspection, repair, and appraisal of container cargo to meet regional and international maritime transport standards.

HOANG HOA LE

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