Seaports - Key to Attract Investors to Ba Ria-Vung Tau

The southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau is targeted as a place to build seaport complex No. 5 to meet the increasing demand for shipping in the southern key economic zone under the Ministry of Transport’s seaport development plan in 1999. This is a good opportunity for the province to develop seaports, industrial parks and transport works.

Currently, a seaport network, including Phuoc An-My Xuan-Go Giau for 150,000-tonne ships, Phu My for 50,000-tonne ships, Cai Mep for 750,000 tonne-ship, Vung Tau for 80,000- tonne ships and Long Son port for oil refinery industry, has been built along the Thi Vai river. Thirty 13 seaports in the province have become operational, with an annual capacity of 14.5 million tonnes, including 11 specialised ports.

 

These include two general ports with a total length of wharf of 550 metres and an annual capacity of 3.8 million tonnes. The rest is ports serving the power, oil production and industrial production industries. The local seaport system plays a very important part in the province’s industrial sector. In the first ten months of 2007, total cargo volume through the local ports reached 20.5 million tonnes. The specialised ports contributed to the development of the province’s oil and industrial sectors to match their potential. Many companies operating in port services and oil industry have grown strongly.

 

Under the seaport development plan, besides the existing port system, Ba Ria-Vung Tau will build additional 25 wharves and seaports with a combined length of 13,553 metres which are designed to handle 42 million tonnes of cargo each year. Among the 25 planned seaports and wharves, the province has built six, comprising Cam Pha cement grinding station, fertilizer and oil services port, Tan Cang-Cai Mep port, Vung Tau-Petro port, Petec port and Ba Son shipyard. On October 12, SP-PSA International Port started the construction on Vietnam’s first container port in Phu My, Tan Thanh district. The port, with an annual capacity of 25 million tonnes of cargo, is expected to receive the first ship in mid-2009.

 

Ba Ria-Vung Tau province is also the centre for building new ports. Accordingly, several passageways and wharves in the province will be upgraded and expanded, including My Xuan A2 area, Phu My and Cai Mep. 

 

Under the seaport plan of seaport complex No. 5, Ba Ria-Vung Tau will have 41 ports with a total length of nearly 20,000 square metres. Particularly, Cai Mep-Thi Vai area in Tan Thanh district will have 13 ports with 8,000-metre wharves, including five ports for moving ports from Ho Chi Minh City to the province. Local seaports are expected to serve a great volume of cargoes in the near future. In addition, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Long Son commune are also considered as areas for seaport development. The People’s Committee of Tan Thanh district said, many deep-water seaport projects are being carried out in the locality.

In a recent working visit to Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, Deputy Minister of Transport Ngo Duc Thinh, said if construction pace is ensured, ports in join ventures with the US, SP – SPA and Denmark will be put into operation next year in Tan Thanh district. Therefore, the province needs to focus on transport systems linking the ports. The Prime Minister has assigned the province as a direct investor to build a road serving the development of Cai Mep-Thi Vai port. The road has a total investment of VND2 trillion mobilized from the G-bonds. The Government has also okayed to call on investment for the construction of Bien Hoa-Vung Tau expressway worth over VND15 trillion. Work on the route is scheduled to begin late 2011. Meanwhile, the province is seeking investors to build a railway from Thi Vai-Cai Mep to Dong Nai. The project’s cost is estimated VND5 trillion. The province plans to build a road connecting Ben Luc in Long An province and the southern region of Ho Chi Minh to serve Thi Vai-Cai Lai port as well as the whole southern region as no ports in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province now can receive 80,000-ton vessels.

 

Experts said infrastructure development is among three key factors to develop the national economy under the orientation of industrialisation and modernisation. Currently, ports, expressways and railways in Ba Ria-Vung Tay are very feasible. Many investors have come to the province to survey the investment environment, including those from the US, Denmark and Singapore.