The Da Nang Investment and Development Fund has pledged to provide a total of 7.9 million USD in loan to the Da Nang Port JSC to upgrade the Tien Sa Port.

Central port: Foreign cargo ships dock at Tien Sa Port .  VNS Photo Cong Thanh

The Director of the company, Mr Nguyen Huu Sia, told Viet Nam News that the 13-year loan went to  building an international standard logistics centre in Viet Nam.

He said the loan was just 20% of total investment capital (49.3 million USD) needed to complete upgrading the port during the next 2 years.

Mr Sia said his company would also use money from its available funds (16.6 million USD or 35%) and from shareholders, along with loans from the Bank for Foreign Trade of Viet Nam (Vietcombank) and the Bank of Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV).

The expanded port has been able to handle a total of 14 million tonnes of cargo, including 800,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalent unit), and become a leading international commercial gateway in the ASEAN region by 2025.

The Tien Sa upgrade is the second investment project in Da Nang that does not to use ODA funds after the Hoa Lien Water Supply Plant which refused non-refundable ODA funds from Japan.

As planned, the Tien Sa Port, the largest of its kind in Central Viet Nam, will be expanded to 86,674m², raising the port’s total area to about 29ha with total investment of 49.3 million USD.

The port handled 7.25 million tonnes of cargo and 73 cruise ships in total last year.  It is a key logistics port in Central Viet Nam and Highlands, as well as the East-West Economic Corridor that links Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam.

Currently, the Tien Sa Port allows access to only 30,000 DWT (deadweight tonnage) ships, and plans to be able to receive 70,000 DWT (deadweight tonnage) ships by 2025.

According to the Ministry of Transport, Da Nang’s port system, comprising Tien Sa, Lien Chieu and Son Tra, will together handle 29 million tonnes of cargo in total by 2030.  

The city and the port of Kawasaki in Japan have been planning to open a shipping route connecting the 2 ports.

(Source: VNS/ DA NANG Today)