Thanh Nien Newspaper Accompanies Portcoast for Over 20 Years in Vietnam’s Infrastructure Digital Transformation Journey

By thanhnien.vn - 06/01/2026

For more than two decades, Thanh Nien Newspaper has closely followed and highlighted Portcoast’s journey of innovation and digital transformation across infrastructure, BIM, GIS, and Digital Twin solutions. From key engineering projects such as the Quan Chanh Bo channel to large-scale digitalization of waterways and metro systems in Ho Chi Minh City, this long-standing media partnership has helped amplify technological progress while inspiring innovation throughout Vietnam’s construction and infrastructure sector. The latest feature once again underscores the role of the media in connecting society with the long-term value of digital transformation, while marking Portcoast’s continued momentum toward a smarter, data-driven future.

Accompanying the journey to the open sea

For more than 20 years, hundreds of articles published by Thanh Nien newspaper have marked Portcoast’s tireless progress in infrastructure innovation, strongly shaped by digital transformation, spreading the values of BIM, GIS, Digital Twin, and Smart City, contributing to encouraging the spirit of daring to think, daring to act, and the aspiration for a national digital future.

Some notable articles can be mentioned as follows:

• 2009 - 2011: Opening the Hau River navigation channel. The Quan Chanh Bo canal dredging project was closely followed by Thanh Nien newspaper from the groundbreaking stage. The 2011 article reflected the great efforts at this key national infrastructure project.

• 2019: Bringing Stormbee UAV to Vietnam. Portcoast imported the Stormbee unmanned aerial vehicle, marking its first appearance in Southeast Asia to serve 3D surveying activities.

• 2023 - 2024: Digitalization of Ho Chi Minh City inland waterways. Articles published by Thanh Nien captured images of Portcoast engineers using UAVs, autonomous vessels, and laser scanners to create 3D models for 82 waterways with a total length of more than 523 km.

• 2024: Digitalization of Metro Line No.1. Portcoast cooperated with Urban Railway Company No.1 to use terrestrial 3D laser scanners and UAVs to scan the entire project with millimeter-level accuracy.

• July 2024: Thanh Nien reported on the signing ceremony between Portcoast and Autodesk to promote digital transformation in construction. At the same time, the newspaper reported that Portcoast received the Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award in the United States, marking the first time a Vietnamese organization received this prestigious award.

• 2025: BIM - GIS and Digital Transformation Conference. In the article "For every 1 USD invested in digitalization, up to 21 USD can be saved", Portcoast presented at the conference organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction on BIM - GIS, affirming that new technologies help optimize design, construction, and infrastructure management.

Towards 2026, the companionship between Thanh Nien newspaper and Portcoast becomes even more meaningful in transforming the way infrastructure is planned, designed, and sustainably managed on the country’s journey of innovation in the digital era.

Portcoast - A pioneering consultant in digital transformation

Certified by the Ministry of Science and Technology as a pioneering science and technology enterprise in the field of digital transformation (BIM, HBIM, Laser Scan, UAV, USV and BIM-GIS integration), Portcoast owns a modern technology ecosystem including: the Otter Pro autonomous surface vessel (USV) integrated with wide-swath multibeam echosounder and LiDAR; the Trimble MX50 mobile mapping system mounted on vehicles; a fleet of specialized UAVs (Stormbee, Matrice 350 RTK) equipped with LiDAR sensors and multi-lens cameras; and long-range laser scanners such as Teledyne Polaris, Leica P50, and Trimble SX12, forming a flexible surveying network for all types of terrain.

Portcoast has also expanded into urban railways by digitalizing Metro Line No.1 and participating in the design consortium (as a BIM consultant) for Metro Line No.2 in Ho Chi Minh City; as well as participating in Hanoi Metro projects Line 2-1 and Line 5 (BIM consultancy, Scan to BIM).

The company has signed cooperation agreements with universities such as Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Hanoi University of Civil Engineering, University of Transport and Communications, and Thuy Loi University to transfer technology and develop human resources. Portcoast’s strength also lies in its human capital, with 10 PhDs, 36 Masters, and a workforce of more than 200 engineers continuously trained. The company has pioneered in achieving the international certification BSI BIM Kitemark™ ISO 19650 and has successfully implemented many projects in Pakistan, Thailand, Myanmar, Egypt, and Panama.