Việt Nam’s ports and other logistics services are attracting both domestic and foreign investment. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY – With its annual growth of 12-14 per cent, the logistics sector, especially seaports, is becoming attractive to both domestic and foreign investors, experts said.

The Cái Mép-Thị Vải international port in Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province and Korean logistics company KCTC Việt Nam signed a memorandum of understanding late last week.

The tie-up would make the service at the port more efficient, Park Hyun Bae, general director of KCTC Việt Nam, said.

The Government is encouraging investors from all around the world to develop ports in the country, according to the Việt Nam Maritime Administration.

The Chu Lai-Trường Hải Port in the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone in the central province of Quảng Nam is soliciting investment from the private sector in two key projects, Chu Lai Airport and a port in the near future.

The chairman of the province, Lê Trí Thanh, said the public-private-partnership (PPP) model would help ease the burden on public resources and improve the management of airport and seaports.

Chu Lai Airport would be expanded to 3,000ha and serve as a key logistics centre for Southeast Asia within a radius of 3,000km.

According to a master plan approved by the Government in 2018, Chu Lai Airport will handle five million passengers and 4.1 million tonnes of cargo by 2030.

The network including Chu Lai and Kỳ Hà ports has been planned for berthing 50,000DWT (deadweight tonnage) ships that will carry a total of 12.7 million tonnes of cargo a year from 2030.

Last month Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc hosted a reception for Dutch and Belgian ambassadors Elsbeth Akkerman and Paul Jansen, which was attended by EU investors seeking to build a port for nearly US$1 billion in Việt Nam.

The Dutch envoy said her Government would back the development of the Cái Mép Hạ Logistics Centre in the southern province of Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu in which the EU investors are interested, adding the Dutch Development Bank would provide 10 per cent of the project cost.

Jansen said the Belgian Corporation for International Investment would also play a role in it.

Once operational, the logistics centre could accommodate large container ships, the investors said, expressing the hope the project would soon be approved.

Bà Rịa-Vùng Tàu has approved the 1:2000 scale plan and location of the port, and is preparing to acquire land for it.

The EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement would bring about great opportunities for Vietnamese and EU businesses, he called on the Netherlands and Belgium to help Việt Nam improve its capacity to enforce the deal.

A seaport master plan for 2021-30 seeks to develop to enhance infrastructure connectivity, reduce logistics costs and promote marine economic development.

The plan includes solutions to improve investment efficiency in developing ports and simultaneous development of ports and other transport infrastructure.

Việt Nam now has 44 seaports. — VNS