A delegation from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, led by Minister Nguyen Chi Dung, on Sunday made an inspection visit to the construction site of the Lien Chieu mega port in Da Nang. He was companied by Da Nang People's Committee Chairman Le Trung Chinh and representatives from relevant local agencies.

Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung (4th, left) listening to a report from representatives of Da Nang departments and agencies on the construction plans for the Lien Chieu Port

Minister Dung emphasised that Da Nang plays a very important role in driving the growth of the Central Viet Nam key economic zone, with significantly improved transport infrastructure. Not only is the city located in the central key economic zone with a full range of important transport types, but it also plays an important role in the Greater Mekong sub-region, one of the world's fastest growing regions, with the robust growth of the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC)

The Lien Chieu port is expected to push the growth of Da Nang, accelerate the progress of Central Viet Nam, and become one of the major important ports in Viet Nam at large.

Viet Nam's national government has also given the green light to granting the first funding package of 2,000 billion VND from the national budget to the development of shared infrastructure in the Lien Chieu port.

If Da Nang well completes preparatory procedures for subsequent work items of this large scale project, the Ministry of Planning and Investment will report to the National Assembly and the national government on capital allocation plans.

Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung, who wears Viet Nam pith helmet (called Mu Coi in Vietnamese), making an inspection visit to the construction site of the Lien Chieu port

According to Minister Dung’s perspective, in addition to the port development, it is also necessary to make the re-planning for entire Lien Chieu District to fully tap its potentials.

In particular, Minister Dung suggested Da Nang to quickly map out plans for the building of a street connect Nguyen Tat Thanh route to the Lien Chieu port as a move to reduce the current traffic pressure on National Highway 1A, and help promote the city’s development steps.

Da Nang People's Committee Chairman Le Trung Chinh addressing his working session with the delegation from the Ministry of Planning and Investment

Secretary of the Lien Chieu District Party Committee Tran Phuoc Son said the district is asking for permission from the national government to buikd roads and anti-landslide embankments on the northern bank of Cu De River in order to ensure smooth traffic connection between Lien Chieu and communes to the north of Hoa Vang District.

The new development is highly expected to help create an attractive highlight on the architecture and landscape in service of a project for developing inland waterway routes on the Cu De River and limit the negative impacts of climate change on the living environment of residents living along the north bank of this river.

25 March saw Vietnamese Prime Minister (PM) Nguyen Xuan Phuc grant an investment policy decision to the development of shared infrastructure in the Lien Chieu port project. The municipal People's Committee (PC) acts as the governance body for this large-scale landmark project.

A view of the planned area earmarked for the new Lien Chieu Port project

Under the new Lien Chieu Port project, the shared infrastructure construction will feature piers and dykes, container terminals and warehouses, developing areas of transport and logistics, equipment used for loading and unloading operations, and transshipment services for an annual capacity of handling a combined total of 3.5 to 5 million tonnes of cargo.

The new port could receive cargo ships of up to 100,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) and container ships with loading capacities from 6,000 to 8,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs), plus 10,000 DTW liquid cargo vessels.

It is known that the shared infrastructure construction in the new port will be carried out during the 2020 – 2024 period at a cost of 3,426.3 billion VND funded by Viet Nam's national and Da Nang governments.

Of this, nearly 3 trillion VND is funded by the national government, whilst the remainder comes from the city budget and its medium-term plans for public investment during the 2021 – 2025 period.

By THANH LAN – Translated by A.T