| Foreign consortium hired for Dung Quat II port plan | |
Dung Quat Economic Zone Authority (DEZA) has signed a contract with a consortium comprising of Japan’s Nikken Sekkei Civil Engineering Ltd. and Port and Waterway Engineering Consultants Company to perform consultancy and produce a detailed plan to the scale of 1/2000 for Dung Quat II Port in the central province of Quang Ngai. According to DEZA, the project will be developed in Dung Quat II Bay, around three kilometers from the coast with a depth of 24 meters. The bay links to around 5,000 hectares used for developing heavy industries and 2,000 hectares for the supporting industries.
The port is expected to handle ships of 250,000-300,000 DWT, which are the most popular types for carrying crude oil, iron ore and coal. The port will facilitate development of Dung Quat II heavy industry zone in Dung Quat Economic Zone (EZ).
Currently, Dung Quat I Port is able to serve 50,000 DWT ships and most of the space has been handed over to project investors at the economic zone.
The planning of Dung Quat II Port is vital to the development of Dung Quat II heavy industry zone, which is key to the expansion of the Dung Quat EZ.
DEZA hopes to build up long-term cooperation with the contractor consortium to build a bridge between it and the Japanese partners. DEZA also pledged to supply capital and cooperate with the contractors to complete the project as scheduled.
Besides, DEZA suggested the contractor follow the general seaport plan approved by the Government. The consortium has been told to ensure feasibility of the planning and consider a realistic situation in the province.
The Government earlier approved the expansion plan of Dung Quat EZ to 45,000 hectares.
Le Van Dung, deputy director of Dung Quat EZ managing board, said the seaport system has been a main factor in attracting heavy industry projects into the zone. Expansion of the EZ will only be possible with the completion of Dung Quat II Port, which will be double the current Dung Quat I Port in scale.
Local and international experts agreed that Dung Quat II Bay is suitable to lure investment for large projects such as oil refinery, heavy equipment factory, plastic plant, steel rolling mill and shipyard.
With a scale of around 5,000 hectares, the Dung Quat II zone is expected to attract around US$20-25 billion in investment capital by 2025. | |
| SGT |
