Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc underlined a must-do to start the implementation of the large-scale Lien Chieu Port project in Da Nang in a prompt fashion.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and the Da Nang leaders at the working session

His statement was made at his working session in Ha Noi on Monday with representatives from national government agencies and such key Da Nang leaders as Da Nang Party Committee Secretary Truong Quang Nghia and municipal People’s Committee Chairman Huynh Duc Tho.

According to the Da Nang authorities, the total volume of cargo transported through the Da Nang Port now hit a total of around 8.4 million tonnes. This figure is expected to climb to 10 million tonnes by 2020, and about 30 million tonnes by 2030.

As a result, this will exceed the capacity of the port’s Tien Sa and Son Tra wharves for that period, and surpass the loading capacity of transport infrastructure which connects the port and the city centre, causing traffic congestion, accidents, and bighting the environment and tourism.

Worse still, recent years have seen many traffic accidents on Yet Kieu-Ngo Quyen-Ngu Hanh Son route which cargo from the Tien Sa port was transported through.

Addressing the event, Secretary Nghia remarked it is essential that work should start on the Lien Chieu Port project soonest as this large-scale project is of importance for Da Nang in terms of infrastructure, socio-economic development, and security-defence.

In November 2016, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc agreed in principle to the project in Notice 363/TB-VPCP of the Government Office following a working session with Da Nang authorities.

Following the approval by the Prime Minister, Da Nang People’s Committee conducted a pre-feasibility study for the project, and then submitted to the Ministry of Transport, which later presented its assessment of the study to the Prime Minister for consideration in May this year. 

At the end of May, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung instructed the Ministry of Planning and Investment evaluate the possible sources of investment capital for Lien Chieu port, while Da Nang was told to complete dossiers for the port project based on evaluation of concerned ministries and agencies.

The Tien Sa Port, one of the Da Nang Port’s main terminals, is being flooded by increasing cargo shipments, and since 2020 onwards, it is unable to handle such cargo volumes.

Da Nang authorities have to date completed dossiers for the project’s pre-feasibility research report.
According to the pre-feasibility study, the Lien Chieu Port covers a total planned area of 220ha, comprising 5 main functional areas, with a total investment of 32,861 billion VND.

The construction of the project is expected to be broken down into 3 stages. The first stage is expected to be completed by 2022 at an estimated cost of 7,380 billion VND, with the second, worth 7,857 billion VND, finished in 2030, and the third completed by 2050 with a cost of 17,626 billion VND.

Once it is put into use, the Lien Chieu Port will become a major cargo port in the central region and the East-West Economic Corridor No 2, whilst the current Tien Sa Port, which now serves both cargo and cruise ships, will be converted the into a special-use port for large cruise ships in the future years with an anticipated capacity of 250,000 tourists by 2030.

Also, more inland container ports (ICDs) will be built to facilitate imports and exports plus commodity transportation through the East-West Economic Corridor that links Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam.

According to Chairman Tho, the municipal government has proposed using the reserve fund for mid-term public investment during 2016 - 2020 for the project.

In his closing speech at the working session, Prime Minister Phuc said the existing Tien Sa Port has a low level of water, making it difficult for big ships to dock, hindering the port from playing its role as a key port of the city, and the central region as a whole.

The national government leader highly applauded the city’s authorities and the Transport Ministry for appealing for private investment into the construction of piers, terminals, loading and unloading facilities as parts of the giant Lien Chieu Port .

Given its important location, the Lien Chieu Port’s planning should be made synchronously and thoroughly, towards building a modern and world-class seaport, he emphasised. 

In particular, he recommended the city authorities to establish a steering committee or working group in charge of managing the implementation of this highly important project.