Da Nang People’s Committee (PC) Chairman Huynh Duc Tho and Vice Chairman Nguyen Ngoc Tuan have met with some representatives from the company Japan Port Consultants (JPC) and the Overseas Coastal Area Development Institute of Japan (OCDI). 

Cargo being unloading at the Tien Sa Port

The intention was to review the final feasibility study, jointly conducted by JPC and OCDI, on the construction of the Lien Chieu Port. 

The city leaders unanimously agreed with the proposal made by JPC to deploy the 1^st stage of the project at a cost of 5,581 billion VND using the public-private partnership (PPP) form.   Of this, 2,630 billion VND will come from the city’s budget, whilst the remainder will be from public investment.

JPC representative Mr Koichiro Harada, who was the leader of the feasibility study group, proposed that the 1^st stage of the project should be put into operation by 2022 in order to handle the growing volume of general and container cargo transported through the Da Nang Port.  Meanwhile, the remainder of the project will be completed by 2050.

Under the 1^st stage, the focus will be on building 2 terminals for handling general cargo with a total capacity of 2 million tons per year, and a terminal for container ships with a handling capacity of 500,000 TEUs per year.

To ensure the on-schedule implementation of this stage, Mr Harada urged the city authorities and the Vietnamese Ministry of Transport to appeal for funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Japanese Embassy in Viet Nam.

The Japanese expert also said that his company is willing to continue its joint efforts with the city’s PC to implement this large-scale project.

Chairman Tho remarked that the city is aiming in the future to turn Lien Chieu Port into a major cargo port and convert the current Tien Sa Port into a special-use port for cruise ships.

He affirmed that the deep-sea Lien Chieu Port has a favourable geographical position because it is eligible for easy connections with the local road, railway and airways systems to ensure convenient cargo transportation.

Chairman Tho pledged that the municipal PC would ask for permission from the national government and the Ministry of Transport to start the construction work as soon as possible.

Vice Chairman Tuan added that the implementation of some local key infrastructure projects in Lien Chieu District are expected to be completed during the 2020 – 2022 period.  These include the project to open a new tunnel under the Hai Van Pass, the building of the Da Nang-Quang Ngai Expressway, the relocation of the city’s railway station to the district’s Hoa Minh Ward, and the opening of a cargo terminal near the construction site of the Lien Chieu Port.   It is hoped that these infrastructure projects will enable businesses operating in industrial parks in Da Nang, and the provinces of Quang Nam and Quang Ngai, to promote their goods transport activities.

In late 2016, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc also gave the go-ahead for the conversion of the Lien Chieu Port into the Da Nang Port’s logistics centre, and the building of the Lien Chieu Port using either ODA capital or other suitable financial sources.