Hai Phong City and Gothenburg Port (Sweden) strengthen cooperation in logistics

Within the framework of the official visit and working session in Sweden and Finland, on the morning of September 4, 2024 (Swedish time) in Sweden, the working delegation of Hai Phong City People's Committee led by Mr. Le Khac Nam, Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee, worked with Gothenburg Port - the largest seaport in Northern Europe to strengthen cooperation in the field of logistics.

Mr. Richard Mellgren (standing, right) introduces Gothenburg port (Photo: Vietnam Trade Office in Sweden)

Attending the meeting, on the side of Hai Phong city, there were Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh - Director of the Department of Industry and Trade - Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the City's International Integration Steering Committee; Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Dung - Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs; Mr. Pham Van Huy - Deputy Director of the Department of Transport; Ms. Truong Binh An - Deputy Director of the City Customs Department; Colonel Bui Van Quy - Deputy General Director of Saigon Newport Corporation.

On the Swedish side, there were Mr. Martin Jonsson, Director of Global Programs, Swedish Trade and Investment Council; representative of Gothenburg Regional Enterprise Development Agency; Mr. Richard Mellgren - Senior Director of Business Development, Sales and Marketing - Port of Gothenburg.

On the side of the Vietnam Trade Office in Sweden, concurrently in charge of the Northern Europe region, there is Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoang Thuy, Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade , Commercial Counselor, Head of the Trade Office.

The Port of Gothenburg is the largest port in the Nordic countries with over 11,000 ship calls each year from over 140 destinations worldwide , and is the only Swedish port capable of handling the largest, most modern ocean-going container ships. Gothenburg handles nearly 30% of Sweden's foreign trade, including 39 million tonnes of cargo each year.

At the meeting, Mr. Le Khac Nam briefly informed about the socio-economic development situation of Hai Phong city, introducing Hai Phong as a reliable and attractive address for domestic and foreign investors, and at the same time one of the leading localities in the country in attracting foreign investment capital. Currently, Hai Phong city's FDI attraction reached 3.6 billion USD, ranking second in the country. As of the end of August 2024, the city had 965 valid foreign investment projects with a total registered investment capital of nearly 31 billion USD from investors from 39 countries and territories.

Regarding seaports, Hai Phong has an outstanding advantage in seaports with the largest seaport system in Northern Vietnam. The volume of goods passing through Hai Phong port is about 200 million tons/year; by 2025 it is expected to reach about 300 million tons/year. Of which, Lach Huyen port is one of 20 deep-water ports in the world, connecting directly to America and Europe, without having to transit through a third country's port, minimizing time and logistics costs, capable of receiving large-sized ships with a tonnage of up to 160,000 tons.

The Lach Huyen container port area is currently being exploited and investing in the construction of 08 berths, of which: berths No. 1 and No. 2 have been exploited with a total length of 750m, the throughput capacity is about 1.1 million TEU/year equivalent to 14.3 million tons/year. Currently, berths No. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 are under construction, completion and officially exploited from 2024-2027. These berths can accommodate ships with a capacity of up to 200,000 DWT, thereby creating a new smart, modern green port system in Hai Phong city along with a post-port service system to form a modern international seaport service center.

Currently, Swedish investors have 03 investment projects in the industrial park in Hai Phong, with a total capital of 48.37 million USD, in the fields of battery, hardware and garment production.

Regarding the development orientation of Seaports and Logistics, Hai Phong City has been orienting to build and develop Hai Phong into a key national and international seaport and logistics service center. Hai Phong City always respects and supports cooperation; at the same time, commits to always strive to create a favorable and equal business and investment environment for foreign investors.

Colonel Bui Van Quy introduces the system of 16 ports of Saigon Newport Corporation stretching from North to Central to South (Photo: Vietnam Trade Office in Sweden)

At the meeting, the representative of Saigon Newport Corporation introduced the Corporation's system of 16 ports stretching from the North, Central and South, including 2 deep-water port clusters with direct maritime service routes from Hai Phong (TC-HICT) and Cai Mep to America and Europe. This is a great opportunity for shipping lines to deploy direct service routes to Gothenburg port - Sweden in the near future. This requires the cooperation of related parties such as shipping lines and import-export customers.

Previously, speaking to reporters from the Industry and Trade Newspaper when returning to Vietnam to attend Vietnam International Sourcing 2023, Mr. Richard Mellgren said that the Port of Gothenburg is looking forward to connecting with Vietnamese businesses in the hope of finding areas of common interest that can benefit trade between the two countries. “The Port of Gothenburg also looks forward to meeting Vietnamese companies and Vietnamese businesses can contact us for advice when transporting their goods to or from Sweden. The Port of Gothenburg is the largest port in Sweden and we have an extensive rail network connecting Gothenburg with several inland stations from the south to the north of Sweden (and also Oslo, Norway). We can cooperate to help Vietnamese businesses transport goods more conveniently,” Mr. Richard Mellgren shared.

In 2023 and 2024, the Vietnam Trade Office in Sweden led a delegation of Nordic businesses to Vietnam to attend Vietnam International Sourcing organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. In Vietnam International Sourcing in 2023, Gothenburg Port was one of the ports that participated in the business delegation. In Vietnam, Gothenburg Port had a working trip to Hai Phong, visited Tan Cang Hai Phong International Container Terminal (TC-HICT), one of the member units of Saigon Newport Corporation, and suggested directions for cooperation between the two sides.

The delegation visited Gothenburg port (Photo: Vietnam Trade Office in Sweden)

Today's working session continues to implement the orientation of the two sides to strengthen cooperation in ports and logistics to facilitate Vietnamese goods in general and Hai Phong in particular with the Northern European region to directly enter each other's markets, increasing import and export turnover. At the end of the working session, the parties agreed to sign Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) within the framework of the Vietnam - Sweden Business Forum 2024 on September 6, 2024 in Stockholm (Sweden).

Memorandums of understanding were signed to jointly promote the market, exchange experiences in port operations, especially digital transformation, green transformation, sustainable development and human resource development for the port operations industry, logistics services and supply chains, etc.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/thanh-pho-hai-phong-va-cang-gothenburg-thuy-dien-tang-cuong-hop-tac-trong-linh-vuc-logistics-343422.html