Construction starts on Vietnam port complex

Construction starts on Vietnam port complex    Construction has reportedly started on what could eventually become a massive transshipment port in southeastern Vietnam.
   According to press reports from Vietnam, work on the Van Phong container port complex began at the end of October. The government envisions the port as one of three large port pillars to be developed over the next decade.
   The country's biggest port complex, the Vung Tau-Cai Mep complex near to Ho Chi Minh City, opened for business in spring, with several more terminals due to open there over the next three years.
   In the north, near the capital Hanoi, the government plans to build a large complex called Lach Huyen. Blueprints for Van Phong, meanwhile, call for 42 berths, probably more capacity than the region needs, especially given that the Vung Tau-Cai Mep terminals are more accessible from production regions in Ho Chi Minh City.
   While international terminal operators have flocked to the Vung Tau/Cai Mep complex, and even to terminals near Hanoi, there is no foreign operator attached to the Van Phong project, which is scheduled to be built in four phases and completed in 2015.