Singapore port firm PSA gets Vietnam license

By Reuters, Bloomberg - 02/2007

PSA International, the world's biggest ports company, has been granted an investment licence to develop a new container port in Vietnam's southern Vung Tau province, the Singapore state-owned firm said Saturday...

Hutchison port group from Hong Kong becomes the lastest big name who has signed up to a port development project in Vietnam, obtaining a license for a huge port in the southern provinve of Ba Ria – Vung Tau last week.

Saigon International Terminals Vietnam Limited (SITV), a joint venture between the group and Vietnam’ Saigon Investment Construction and Commerce Co., Ltd. was awarded the investment certificated by provincial authorities on Thursday. Under the license, the joint venture will construct, own and operate a container terminal within a 50-year duration.

The facility, whose total investment amounts to some US$267 million, will have three berths with a total length of 700 meters and a terminal yard of 33.7 hectares.

SITV will be a major deepwater seaport in the gatewway port complex in the Southern Focal Economic Area (SFEA). With the front water depth of 14 meters, the facility can accommodate vessels of up to 60,000 DWT and the throughtput capacity is expected to be about 1.1 million-twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) a year.

The facility is closely situated near industrial zones and conveniently linked to highways, waterways, and power and water supply plants will handle the import and export cargoes not only for the whole SFEA but also the Mekong Delta.

With the upcoming development, Hutchison Port Group is in company with others world leading port operators such as P&O Ports from Britain, Maersk from Denmark, PSA from Singapore, and SSA from the United States to make the port investment in Vietnam become more dynamic than ever.

The international giants have created a new bright view about the prospects of the maritime sector in Vietnam and have been contributing to the launch of Vietnam ships to international waters.

Days earlier, the provincial government of Ba Ria- Vung Tau on Febuary 3 also issued an investment certificate to SP-PSA as a joint venture between Saigon Portand Singapore’s SPA international to develop an international container terminal with total investment of US$165 million.