Construction ministry backs $1.95 bln port project in southern Vietnam

Geleximco Group's Cai Mep Ha container and general port project aligns with the national master plan and the master plan for Vietnam’s seaport system, according to the Ministry of Construction.

The ministry made the statement in a document sent to the Ministry of Finance, seeking the latter’s opinion on the project proposal.

The Cai Mep Ha project is located in former Ba Ria-Vung Tau province. Ho Chi Minh City, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, and Binh Duong recently merged to form the new HCMC.

The proposal was submitted by a consortium of private mutli-sector group Geleximco, International Transportation and Trading JSC (ITC), and the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) which manages and invests state capital in enterprises.

The construction ministry said the proposal matches the detailed planning for port cluster development for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, in terms of investment objectives, vessel size, and the number and functions of berths.

In addition, the proposed investment phasing aligns with the planned investment roadmap through 2030 and beyond, it said.

The ministry voiced its support for attracting financially capable investors to optimize the use of land, water surface, and coastal zones.

The approach would also help strengthen infrastructure connectivity and compatibility with science-technology applications, thus realizing the vision of transforming the Ba Ria-Vung Tau seaport into an international gateway.

It would help address the limitations of fragmented and small-scale investment and operation across certain seaport areas in recent years, the ministry explained.

Ba Ria-Vung Tau accommodates seven container terminals with a combined designed annual capacity of 7.66 million TEUs (as of 2020), comprisng five in the Cai Mep area and the remaining in the Thi Vai area.

However, over the past three years, actual throughput has consistently exceeded this figure, averaging more than 8 million TEUs annually. In 2024 alone, it reached 10.98 million TEUs, with the majority handled by the five container terminals in Cai Mep.

The ministry cited the national seaport development master plan for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, noting that the development of terminals in the Cai Mep-Thi Vai area is among the priorities through 2030.

Under the implementation plan for the strategy, the Cai Mep Ha terminal area has also been designated as a priority for investment by 2030.

The ministry therefore emphasized the need to accelerate the selection of investors for the project.

According to the proposal, the project aims to develop a gateway port integrated with international transshipment functions. The project would cover 351.2 hectares of land and handle up to 10.8 million TEUs annually.

It would include 17 terminals with a total length of approximately 5.9 kilometers (excluding barge berths for cargo consolidation), with the container port zone spanning 229.4 hectares.

The port complex will also include container yards, warehouses, a cargo irradiation facility, and supporting technical infrastructure.

The project carries an estimated total investment of VND50.82 trillion ($1.95 billion), divided into three phases: VND12.5 trillion ($478.56 million) for phase 1 (2025-2030), VND13.22 trillion ($506.16 million) for phase 2 (2031-2040), and VND25.1 trillion ($961.02 million) for phase 3 (2041-2050).