$10 bln international maritime hub proposed for HCMC

Private companies have proposed building a $10 billion international maritime hub in Ho Chi Minh City, southern Vietnam's economic center, via a public-private partnership (PPP).

At a meeting on the Vietnam Private Economic Landscape (ViPEL) initiative on Monday, Pham Quoc Long, deputy general director of Gemadept, said that in the context of the global supply chain being at risk of disruptions due to geopolitical issues, the timing is “ripe” to establish an international maritime hub in HCMC.

“In Southeast Asia, Vietnam’s seaport system ranks second in terms of throughput (29.9 million TEU) and first in terms of growth rate (21%). Vietnam is a bridge for the Indo-Pacific Economic Corridor (IPEC) which covers 13 out of the 17 FTAs that the country has signed,” Long noted.

The ViPEL initiative, overseen by the Board for Private Economic Development Research (Board IV) under the Prime Minister, seeks to boost PPPs in economic development.

Long pointed out that 60% of global maritime trade passes through Asia and 30% through the East Sea, internationally known as the South China Sea, while Vietnam’s ports already handle around 800 million tons of cargo annually, leading the region in growth rate.

In recent times, according to Long, Vietnam has risen to become one of the most vibrant container shipping markets in the region, approaching the scale of the leading logistics centers in ASEAN.

However, Vietnam is still a country with a logistics deficit - most of the support services are provided by foreign companies. Moreover, the country loses about $1 billion each year because of its fragmented port system and low loading and unloading prices.

After Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Binh Duong merged into HCMC, the opportunity for HCMC to become a world maritime hub becomes even more obvious, Long argued.

“If we connect the maritime hub with free trade zones (FTZ), the international financial center, and onshore services, we can become an important link in the global supply chain,” he added.

HCMC has proposed establishing four FTZs tied to ports and logistics in the city. The country is currently in the process of building an international financial center located in both HCMC and Danang.

Long proposed building the maritime hub with an investment of about $10 billion. Of which, $5 billion will be used to develop seaport infrastructure, $4 billion for supporting infrastructure, and $1 billion for soft infrastructure. He estimated that once fully operational, the hub could generate over 20,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Beyond seaports, he emphasized the need to develop inland waterway transport, which could help reduce logistics costs which currently account for 16-17% of GDP.

Long proposed developing inland waterway transport, focusing on upgrading and expanding the Ha Nam Canal (Hai Phong city) to accommodate large ships and reduce logistics costs.

Along with that, the clearance of Dong Nai, Binh Trieu 1, and Binh Phuoc 1 bridges should be increased to avoid restricting the flow of the bridges, increasing the ability to exploit waterway transport.

“A 200-300 TEU barge can replace hundreds of container trucks. But investment in waterways accounts for just 2% of transport sector funding, leaving many bottlenecks unresolved,” he added.

In response, a member of the Committee II in charge of infrastructure, ports, logistics and new energy under the ViPEL, urged caution in resource allocation, noting that some past infrastructure projects had missed real demand.

He cited the former Soc Trang province ’s Tran De Port, which handles fewer than 500,000 TEUs per year compared to Cai Mep’s over 5 million TEUs. Soc Trang was recently merged into Can Tho city.

“If we continue spreading investments across low-volume ports, we risk waste. Inland waterways, particularly routes like Mang Thit (Vinh Long province) and Muong Khai-Doc Phu Hien (Dong Thap province), should be prioritized,” he said.

Regaring high-speed rail planning, the member suggested that beyond the 350 km/h passenger line, infrastructure for container transport at 160 km/h should also be considered, along with land allocation for cargo hubs from the outset to avoid future bottlenecks.

From a consultancy perspective, many agreed that the Cai Mep-Can Gio area is the most viable location for the maritime hub. The area currently accounts for 30% of the nation’s cargo volume and over 70% of container cargo, with potential capacity of 50 million TEUs if its 23 km of berths are fully utilized. What is missing, businesses noted, are fuel supply facilities and a special governance framework.

“If local authorities are granted autonomy through a ‘Port Authority’ model, efficiency will be much higher than under today’s centralized management,” one expert suggested.

Dang Vu Thanh, general director of Southern Logistics, stressed that this should be a national-level program with a clear legal framework and stable mechanisms to attract private investment.

Tran Chi Dung, deputy general director of My Thuy International Port, added that “there has never been a better time,” as Vietnam will host the World Congress of the International Federation of Freight Forwarders and Associations (FIATA) 2025 (October 6-10), and a maritime hub should go hand in hand with a national logistics data system integrating transport, trade, and payments.

Nguyen Thanh Binh, CEO of Gemadept, emphasized that the decisive factor remains trust and unity. “We shouldn’t wait for a perfect mechanism. We need to act while improving, and should abandon fragmented competition among private firms in favor of stronger cooperation,” he said.

Deploying a Port Community System (PCS) - a shared data platform for ports, businesses, and regulators - will lay the foundation for an open port model and an internationally competitive maritime hub, he argued.