VN has abundant small seaports, empties pocket to build big ports VietNamNet Bridge – The State would gather the strength on key maritime projects to serve the sea-borne economy development strategy, according to Nguyen Nhat, Head of the Vietnam Maritime Bureau.   Nhat said the money would be poured to the four key projects outlined by the maritime bureau from now to 2020. One of the four important projects is the one on the Hai Phong international gateway port in Lach Huyen district. The State would pour money to build two first wharfs capable to receive 100,000 DWT vessels, which are expected to be put into operation by 2016. Vietnam would call for the investments for other items to develop eight wharfs, including three general wharfs for the ships with the tonnage of up to 50,000 DWT and five container wharfs for the 50,000-100,000 DWT ships. The second project is the Van Phong international transshipment port development. Van Phong is considered the ideal place for developing a seaport with the coastline of over 10 kilometers and the deep natural depth, with which the investors would not have to spend money on building a breakwater. In 2007, the government approved the Van Phong port project with the investment capital of VND3.126 trillion. Two years later, Vinalines, the investor, announced the new investment rate of VND6.177 trillion. In October 2009, the project was kicked off. However, only several items of the projects had been implemented when the investor ran out of money. A source from the Van Phong Economic Zone’s Board of Management said it has sent a letter to Vinalines, informing about the revoking of the investment license, because the investor could not implement the project as committed. The third project is the one on upgrading the Cai Mep – Thi Vai passage to make it able to receive the ships of over 100,000 DWT. The fourth project is one on ensuring the passage for 10,000 DWT ships to the Hau River. The project would be carried out with the state budget, aiming to boost the local economy and trade development in Mekong Delta. Nhat said Vietnam needs to upgrade the infrastructure system, including the maritime transport conditions, shipyards, the fleet and labor force, and to strengthen the international cooperation to satisfy the demand of the international integration. Vietnam now calls for the investment in the Vung Ang Port under the PPP mode (private public partnership). The Vung Ang Economic Zone in Ha Tinh province is one of the five coastal zones marked as the priority projects for the 2013-2015 development period. The Vung Ang port, with two harbors now in effective operation, now needs further investments to develop the next harbors to satisfy the increasingly high imports and exports of the central province of Ha Tinh and the neighboring areas. Besides, the port also serves the transshipment of the goods from Laos and the Northeast of Thailand. The Vietnam Maritime Bureau has approved the plan on developing a specialized port for the Son Duong Formosa Ha Tinh steel complex. It would comprise of 13 harbors in the first phase of development, which include 3 harbors for up to 300,000 DWT ships, 2 ones for 200,000 DWT ships and the other ones for the 10,000-70,000 ton ships. Son Duong, once put into operational would be the biggest specialized port in Vietnam. Anh Minh