After the merger, Vietnam has 21/34 coastal provinces and cities.

The rate of coastal provinces is increasing.

Currently, Vietnam has 63 provinces and centrally-run cities, including 28 coastal provinces and cities.

26/28 coastal provinces and cities have seaports, except Ninh Binh and Bac Lieu. Ninh Binh is one of the provinces with the shortest coastline in Vietnam, only about 18km long. Bac Lieu has a coastline of 56km but also has no seaport.

In addition to 26/28 coastal provinces and cities having seaports, Vietnam currently has 8 provinces and cities that do not border the sea but have a seaport system. Of these, 2 localities have type I seaports: Dong Nai and Can Tho; 2 localities have type II seaports: Dong Thap and Hau Giang; the remaining 4 localities have type III seaports: Binh Duong, Long An, An Giang, Vinh Long.

Provinces bordering the sea and having seaports today (Graphic: Tung Nguyen).

According to Resolution No. 60, the 11th Conference of the 13th Party Central Committee, the Central Committee agreed on the policy of rearranging provincial-level administrative units nationwide to 34 units, including 28 provinces and 6 centrally-run cities.

Besides 11 provinces and cities that maintain their status quo, the remaining 53 localities are expected to merge into 23 provinces and cities.

According to this proposed list, Vietnam will have only 21 coastal provinces compared to the current 28 provinces. However, if comparing the proportions, after the merger, the proportion of coastal provinces and cities will be 62% (21/34 provinces), much larger than the current 44% (28/63 provinces).

List of coastal provinces and seaports after merger (Graphic: Tung Nguyen).

Notably, 21/21 coastal provinces and cities after the merger all have seaports. In addition, after the merger, there are 2 coastal provinces that still have seaports: Dong Nai (merging Dong Nai and Binh Phuoc) and Tay Ninh (merging Tay Ninh and Long An).

"Addition" enhances the sea view

More importantly, the above merger plan creates localities with extremely large seaport systems such as Ho Chi Minh City (merging Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau).

Currently, Ba Ria - Vung Tau has a special seaport system with 48 seaports, Ho Chi Minh City has a type I seaport system with 40 seaports, Binh Duong only has Binh Duong general port.

When the above 3 localities are merged into the new Ho Chi Minh City, this centrally-run city will have a super-large seaport system, with 89 seaports. If we add 10 offshore oil and gas ports in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province at present, the total number of seaports in Ho Chi Minh City after the merger will be 99 seaports, much larger than the country's current largest seaport system, Hai Phong (50 seaports).

After the merger, Ho Chi Minh City will become a megacity with the largest seaport system in the country (Illustration photo: PN).

According to Dr. Tran Du Lich, just in terms of scale, if Ho Chi Minh City expands in that direction, the city will become a megacity whose scale will exceed that of the continent, not just Southeast Asia.

"The city will be an international trade gateway, an industrial center, a financial trade center, a logistics center, a transit port center... At that time, Ho Chi Minh City will immediately elevate its status," emphasized Dr. Tran Du Lich.

Another locality that will also have the opportunity to develop its marine economy after the merger is Can Tho city (merging Can Tho, Soc Trang and Hau Giang).

After the merger, this locality will have 21 seaports. Although the number is still small, the important thing is that after the merger, Can Tho will become a coastal city.

Currently, although not bordering the sea, its geographical location is hundreds of kilometers from the estuary, Can Tho City has still developed 17 seaports, a class I seaport system. When having the sea after the merger, the capital city of the Western region will have more conditions to develop the marine economy.

According to Mr. Pham Van Hieu, Standing Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Council of Can Tho City, the locality will have very strong development if there is a sea.

He said: "If we have the sea, we can develop aquaculture, seafood exploitation, coastal ecosystem development, marine tourism linked with ecological deltas, logistics, coastal infrastructure... This is a huge resource."

Standing Deputy Secretary of Can Tho City Party Committee Pham Van Hieu: "Expanding to the sea is a turning point opportunity for Can Tho" (Photo: Xuan Hinh).

In addition, this plan to rearrange the provinces will help many provinces in the Central Highlands, which are mountainous and located deep inland, become coastal localities, such as: Dak Lak (merging Phu Yen and Dak Lak), Lam Dong (merging Lam Dong, Dak Nong and Binh Thuan), Gia Lai (merging Gia Lai and Binh Dinh)...

According to Dr. Tran Du Lich, merging provinces in the direction of connecting the Central Highlands with coastal provinces will change the way new provinces are organized into economic sub-regions, linking the spatial development of mountainous and highland areas with coastal areas, complementing each other's advantages.

Dong Nai province after the merger (merging Dong Nai and Binh Phuoc) although not bordering the sea, still inherits the current system of 18 seaports of Dong Nai province.

Tay Ninh province after the merger (merging Tay Ninh and Long An) is also not bordered by the sea but inherits the current system of 3 seaports of Long An.