Capacity building of the seaport system in Nhon Trach district area

​Loading and unloading goods at Tan Cang Nhon Trach ICD (Photo by Huong Giang)

The right time to adjust the plan

Nhon Trach district is the locality with the largest number of seaports in the province according to the approved plan of the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

Mr Duong Van Dong, Deputy Director of the Department of Traffic and Transport said that according to the plan of the Southeast seaport group (group 5) for the period to 2020 with a vision to 2030 approved by the Ministry of Traffic and Transport in 2017, 36 seaports were planned in Nhon Trach district. Among these, there were 15 general seaports, 20 specialized ports and 1 marine service center. This seaport system located on 4 main rivers: Dong Nai, Thi Vai, Long Tau and Nha Be.

Currently, with 36 seaports planned in the area of ​​​​Nhon Nhon Trach district, there are 9 ones have been invested and built with stable operation, 1 port is under construction investment, 4 ports have been approved by the Provincial People's Committee in investment program. The remaining amount has not yet been approved by the Provincial People's Committee. Thus, compared with the plan, the number of seaports that have been invested, built and put into operation in the area of ​​Nhon Trach district is still quite modest.

Not only modest in number, the scale of seaports that have been invested, built and put into operation in the area of Nhon Trach district is also considered to be quite small. “According to the previous plan, seaports were only planned to be built to be able to receive ships of about 30,000 tons. However, at present, most of the ships have a tonnage of 1,000 tons or more, so the old plan is outdated," said Mr Duong Van Dong.

In fact, the seaports that have been built in Nhon Trach district are now mainly specialized ports, serve the internal needs of a number of businesses. Therefore, the size of these ports is very small.

Director of the Department of Traffic and Transport Le Quang Binh said that the current situation of the seaport system in Nhon Trach district area has a "historic" element left from the old planning. “According to the old plan, the area of ​​many seaports is no longer suitable. Therefore, it is necessary to review the planning and withdraw the projects "registered" but not implemented. Limit the development of specialized ports at the same time" said Mr Le Quang Binh.

Agreeing with this view, Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Nguyen Phu Cuong said that it is now the right time to review the seaport planning in the area of ​​Nhon Trach district. “Previously, due to the priority of attracting investment capital, Dong Nai introduced many seaport projects to investors. Any investor's proposal is approved, the specialized port is also licensed, leading to the situation that the seaport is no longer a seaport but only at the scale of a wharf and boat station. Currently, the planning of seaports reveals many shortcomings, so it is now the time to review the plan," emphasized member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Nguyen Phu Cuong.

Focus on capacity building

According to Mr Duong Van Dong, currently the Ministry of Traffic and Transport is also collecting opinions from localities to re-plan the seaport system, including seaports in the province in the period of 2021-2030 with a vision to 2050. Provincial Department of Traffic and Transport has also proposed orientations to adjust the seaport system in the province including the seaports in Nhon Trach district. Accordingly, for ports have been built and operated stably, Dong Nai proposes to keep them. For ports have been licensed but have expired and ports have not been licensed will recalled and new license granting with the condition that the area and size of seaports must be increased.

According to the leader of the Department of Traffic and Transport, in the coming planning, Dong Nai will also propose the Ministry of Traffic and Transport to issue specific regulations on port area and wharf size for new licensed projects. Thereby, limiting the development of small seaports and specialized ports. At the same time, investors are encouraged to conduct joint ventures and associations to increase the scale of new construction seaports.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Cao Tien Dung also said that in the coming planning orientation, Dong Nai will only develop large-scale seaports, at least to ensure that they can receive ships of 50,000 tons or more. For specialized ports, small-scale ports will not being encouraged to development. “It is necessary to develop a general seaport to have a large revenue source. The size of the port must also be large, but being a small seaport does not make any sense. The seaport planning chopped is a failure," emphasized Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Cao Tien Dung.​