Over the past years, Da Nang has been expected to be a logistics centre in the central region thanks to its favourable geographic position of being the endpoint and being the Pacific gateway for the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC).

Cargo being unloaded at the Da Nang Port.

In fact, there are a total of 20 large and small seaports along coastal areas in the central region, but the total volume of goods transported through the region's port clusters only accounts for a very small proportion of the country’s.

The main reason is thought to be that most of the seaports are small scale, hereby lacking piers for receiving large-capacity container ships.

In order to deal with the problem, Da Nang has developed plans for building a logistics complex associated with a master plan for promoting the development of commerce, industry, and convenient road, railway, airway and waterway transportation systems.

In his remarks at the municipal People’s Council meeting in July 2018, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Dang Viet Dung said the construction of the complex will help to develop a synchronous logistics infrastructure system which is capable of handling goods arising during the transport process in the city, neighbouring localities and along EWEC.

He added it is estimated that the city is in need of 13,695 billion VND in total for developing logistics services on a total area of 312ha across the city.

In particular, appeals will be made for domestic and foreign investment into the construction of logistics centres in the city, whilst the costs for upgrading transportation infrastructure will come from the city budget.

The Da Nang Port is able to receive up to 45,000 DWT ships.

Under a master plan for the development of the city’s logistics industry by 2030, with a vision towards 2045, a regional-level and 4 provincial-level logistics centres will be built in the city.

In detail, the soon-to-be-developed Lien Chieu Port will serve as a regional-level logistics centre. Meanwhile, the 4 provincial-level logistics centres will be constructed in Hoa Vang District’s Hoa Nhon Commune, at the Kim Lien cargo railway station, at Da Nang International Airport and in the city’s Hi-tech Park.

According to Mr Nguyen Huu Sia, General Director of the Da Nang Port Joint Stock Company, there are now a total of around 800 freight and warehousing companies, nearly 60 bank branches handling international financial transactions, and 30 domestic and foreign insurance companies, in the city.

“The Da Nang Port is able to receive up to 45,000 DWT ships, container ships with capacity of 2,000 TEUs, and over 75,000 GRT cruise ships. By 2020, the Da Nang International Airport is expected to receive between 13 and 15 million passengers, and handle between 23,000 and 30,000 tonnes of cargo annually”, he added.

Most recently, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has given a nod for the city to undertake the construction of the Lien Chieu Port and be responsible for using the State budget for the construction in accordance with the national laws.