Vietnam Seeking Private Investment in Ports

Posted by Josh Keefe February 17, 2015

Cai Mep International Terminal (Photo courtesy of Maersk)

Vietnam's Ministry of Transport is seeking private sector investment for construction of seaports, Vietnam Briefing reported last week.

The Vietnam Maritime Administration will announce a list of 42 maritime infrastructure projects, including 18 seaports, looking for private investment, said Do Duc Tien, Deputy Chief of the Vietnam Maritime Administration.

The privatization of Vietnam's ports is part of an initiative launched in April 2014 to privatize an estimated 432 state-owned enterprises between 2014 and 2015.

Vietnam's port infrastructure is currently ranked 88 out of 144 countries according to the World Economic Forum's 2015 Global Economic Competitiveness Report. The country has only one deep-water port, the Cai Mep International Terminal. The port opened in 2009, but has struggled since. It currently is operating at 30% capacity, Vietnam Briefing reports. Lach Huyen, the country's second deep-water port is set to open in 2016. Dinh La Thang, the Minister of Transport, stated that the Lach Huyen project would be the last non-national defense maritime project to be state funded.