Da Nang (VNA) – The central Da Nang city’s Investment and Development Fund has agreed to provide a 7.9 million USD loan to the Da Nang Port joint-stock company to upgrade and expand the Tien Sa Port.
Director of the port, Nguyen Huu Sia said that the 13-year loan was to fund the building an international standard logistics centre in Vietnam.
He said the loan was just 20 percent of total investment capital (49.3 million USD) needed to complete upgrading the port during the next two years.
Sia said the company would also raise funds from its available funds (16.6 million USD or 35 percent) and from shareholders as well as from the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), the Bank of Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV).
The expanded port has been able to handle 14 million tonnes of cargo, including 800,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalent unit), and become a leading international commercial gateway in the ASEAN region by 2025.
The Tien Sa upgrade is the second investment project in Da Nang not to use Official Development Assistance (ODA) funds after the Hoa Lien Water refused non-refundable ODA funds from Japan.
As planned, the Tien Sa, the largest in central Vietnam, will be expanded to 86,674sq.m, raising the port’s total area to about 29ha with total investment of 49.3 million USD.
The port handled 7.25 million tonnes of cargo and 73 cruise ships last year. It is a key logistics port in Vietnam’s central provinces and the Central Highlands, as well as the East-West Economic Corridor that links Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
Currently, Tien Sa Port allows access to only 30,000 DWT (deadweight tonnage) ships, and plans to be able to berth 70,000 DWT (deadweight tonnage) ships by 2025.
According to the Ministry of Transport, Da Nang city’s port system, including Tien Sa, Lien Chieu and Son Tra, will handle 29 million tonnes of cargo by 2030.
The city and the port of Kawasaki in Japan have been planning to open a shipping route connecting the two ports-VNA