Economy

At the gateway to the northern economic region

04/06/2019

“Building Hai Phong and Quang Ninh into a center for marine economy and a gateway and momentum for the development of the northern key economic region in association with Lach Huyen international port; developing Quang Ninh into a national tourism center linked with major world and regional tourism centers.” These are the principal contents of the Party Central Committee’s Resolution on the strategy for sustainable development of Vietnam’s marine economy up through 2030 in regards to the northern sea and coastal area, which have been being implemented in the concerned provinces.

To implement this resolution, which was issued in October 2018, Quang Ninh province has diversified forms of investment to attract all economic sectors, especially the private sector. The province has so far invested a total of over 30 trillion dong (over 1.3 billion US dollars) in its transport infrastructure development, including nearly 10.2 trillion dong (over 443 million US dollars) from the state budget and over 19.8 trillion (over 860 million US dollars) dong from social resources.

Hosting National Tourism Year in 2018, Quang Ninh for the first time received over 12 million visitors, earning 24 trillion dong (over 1.04 billion US dollars).

The province has recently put into operation three major transport projects with a total investment of around 25 trillion dong (nearly 1.09 billion US dollars). The projects are the Ha Long-Van Don expressway, Van Don international airport and Hon Gai international cruise port.

The Ha Long-Van Don expressway connects the economic development triangle of Hanoi, Hai Phong and Quang Ninh to boost links for development of the northern key economic region. It is also an important infrastructure project which gives new development momentum for the Van Don economic zone.

The 60km Ha Long-Van Don expressway halves the travel time between Ha Long and Van Don to 50 minutes. Photo: VNA

Van Don international airport is the first private-invested airport in Vietnam. It is a build-operate-transfer investment of Sun Group. Photo: Van Duc/VNA

Celebrity Millennium of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines of the US carries 2,000 passengers and a crew of nearly 1,000 to Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh. Photo: VNA

The 24.6 km Ha Long-Hai Phong expressway includes Bach Dang, one of the largest cable-stayed bridges in Vietnam. Photo: Trung Nguyen / VNA

Delegates attending the 44th Meeting of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies Executive Board (OANA 44)
visit Ha Long bay in Quang Ninh province. Photo: VNA

Tan Cang is among the most advanced ports on Dinh Vu peninsula in Hai Phong. Photo: An Dang / VNA

Dinh Vu is the first seaport in Hai Phong capble of receiving 20,000 ton ships. Photo: An Dang / VNA

Hai Phong International Container Terminal (HICT) is the first deep water terminal of the northern key economic region
which can accommodate container vessels with a capacity of 14,000 TEUs and general ships with a tonnage of up to 16,000 DWT. Photo: An Dang/VNA

Visitors on Cat Ba island, Hai Phong. Photo: An Dang / VNA

Van Don international airport is the first airport in the country built in the form of BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer). It is not only Quang Ninh’s “gateway to the sky” but also the first private-invested airport project of the transport sector, which has opened a new stage of airport development in the country.

In 2018, Hai Phong port handled 32.87 million tons of cargos with total revenues of nearly 2.2 trillion dong (over 956 million US dollars), keeping its position as the top seaport in north Vietnam.

Hon Gai international port, the first specialized cruise port in Vietnam, is capable of receiving state-of-the-art cruise ships. It can handle two cruise ships at a time, each with a capacity of 225,000 GT and capable of carrying 6,500 passengers. With the operation of the port, cruise ships can now dock ashore, instead of having to anchor offshore and use tender boats to take passengers ashore as previously.

Hai Phong’s Lach Huyen port was built in 2013 with a total cost of 1 billion US dollars. After the first phase of construction was completed in May 2018, the port has a handling capacity of about 300,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs), to be increased to 2-3 million TEUs in 2019.

Combined with other operating ports, Hai Phong will be able to handle around 5 million TEUs, almost equal to the capacity of ports in Ho Chi Minh City which handled 5.94 million TEUs in 2018.

Other infrastructure projects are also being implemented to serve the port project in Hai Phong, including a new expressway which helps cut in half the travel time from Hanoi to Hai Phong to 90 minutes, and an expressway from Hai Phong to Quang Ninh which will open this year.

“Lach Huyen port plays a key role in Vietnam’s maritime strategy,” Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said. North Vietnam is growing into a manufacturing hub for machinery, electronics and auto and precision industries. Samsung Electronics has set up mobile phone plants in the region. Deep C industrial park near Lach Huyen has attracted about 80 domestic and foreign enterprises.

Story: VNP - Photos: VNA