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Saigon-Hiep Phuoc Port to ring in major changes
A view of the Saigon Port which will be relocated from HCMC’s downtown area to the suburbs.
A dominant, inescapable feature of Ho Chi Minh City’s landscape, the Saigon Port has been the heart of the commercial hub for 149 years.
The first step to changing that forever was taken Saturday with the ground-breaking ceremony for the Saigon-Hiep Phuoc Port. The new port is a harbinger for significant transformation besides the economic benefits it is expected to bring in.
The port complex is part of a master plan for the development of HCMC until 2020.
It is also the first step of a program to relocate key ports from the city’s downtown to the suburbs, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai said at the groundbreaking ceremony Saturday.
One of the major challenges of the new project will be to develop the space vacated by the historic Saigon Port complex, which has operated in the downtown area for 149 years, Hai said.
It is also hoped that the relocation will reduce the overload which has dogged the Saigon Port recently.
The port has been overwhelmed with a high volume of unpacked and uncontainerized cargo like sand, cassava, fertilizer, and animal feed, said Le Cong Minh, general director of the Saigon Port.
The large, modern container port will meet the burgeoning transportation demand and spur economic growth in the region, Hai said.
The first stage of the Saigon-Hiep Phuoc port complex project, located in the Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park in Nha Be District, is estimated to cost VND2.74 trillion (US$153.78 million).
The 1,800-meter long port will be able to accommodate ships of up to 50,000 DWT and handle around 8.7 million tons of cargo every year. It will have three wharves totalling 800 meters long.
The port complex is expected to receive 60 million tons of cargo in 2010 and 225 million tons in 2020.
The second stage of the project, invested by Saigon Port Company and the Saigon Port-Hiep Phuoc Joint Stock Company, will get underway from 2011 to 2014.
Hai on Saturday called on the HCMC government to ensure complete maritime safety and to carefully consider the nature of the Soai Rap River on which the port is to be built.
The municipal government has said the development of the Saigon-Hiep Phuoc Port will benefit not only the development of the city but also that of the key economic region in the south.
Since the 1990s, a series of infrastructure projects have been implemented to bolster the city’s role in the East Sea region, and the Saigon-Hiep Phuoc Port complex is a major part of the effort.
PORT RELOCATION PLANS
In the relocation blueprint approved in 2005 by the federal government, the Vietnamese government instructed the Ministry of Transport and Ho Chi Minh City to speed up the relocation of key ports from the city’s downtown to suburban areas.
Under the plan, Saigon New Port, Saigon Port, Tan Thuan Dong Port, and VegePort, and Ba Son Shipyard will be moved out of the city before 2010. Saigon New Port, Saigon Port, and Ba Son Shipyard will be moved to the Cai Mep-Thi Vai port complex in the southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.
Tan Thuan Dong Port will move to Cat Lai Port in the city’s District 2 and VegePort to the Hiep Phuoc Port complex in the outlying Nha Be District. The work is estimated to cost $712 million.
The relocation project is part of a plan to set up a network of major ports in HCMC, Dong Nai, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, turning it into a gateway to the southern region.
The network is expected to accommodate ships of up to 80,000 DWT against less than 30,000 DWT now.
It will also handle 53 million tons of goods a year by 2010 and 100 million tons from 2020.
Source: TN, Agencies
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