QUẢNG TRỊ GETS PM APPROVAL FOR $614 MILLION PORT PROJECT

The central province of Quảng Trị is going to build a seaport at a cost of VNĐ14 trillion (US$614 million) at local Mỹ Thủy Beach in an attempt to boost development of the province’s key economic zone.

According to the local People’s Committee, a decision issued by the Prime Minister late last week gave the province permission to go ahead with construction of the proposed Mỹ Thủy Sea Port in Hải Lăng District.

The total investment draws on different funding sources. A newly formed joint venture entity, the Mỹ Thủy International Port Joint Venture Company, will be in charge of managing construction.

The PM’s decision stated the port’s main function will be to service the South East Quảng Trị Economic Zone, local industrial parks and the cargo flow on the East West Economic Corridor, which links Việt Nam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar.

The port will be 685ha wide and able to accommodate 10,000-tonne vessels. It will have 10 wharves, which will be built one by one from this year until 2036. The first four wharves will be operational by 2025.

The South East Quảng Trị Economic Zone is the only economic zone in the province. It was formed in 2015, taking 23,792ha land from 17 communes in the districts of Hải Lăng, Triệu Phong and Gio Linh. So far, almost 90 per cent of its area has been left unused.

Quảng Trị is the last of the 12 provinces of the country’s central region – spreading from Thanh Hóa to Khánh Hòa – to get a deep sea port. The region is home to Chân Mây Port, Dung Quất Port, Đà Nẵng Port and Quy Nhơn Port.

This central province was hit hardest by American bombs during the war. The locality is listed as one of the least-developed provinces in the country more than 40 years after the war ended.

Source: VNS