Vinalines eyeing foreign partnerships to develop megaports

Vinalines eyeing foreign partnerships to develop megaports State-run Vietnam Shipping Lines, or Vinalines, is considering joint venture with international partners to develop two mammoth port complexes in central and southern Vietnam, news agency Thanh Nien News reported over the weekend.
   According to the newspaper, a Vinalines spokesman said the group 'might team up with Japan's Sumitomo and Belgium's Port of Zeebrugge to secure funds for the construction of Khanh Hoa Province's Van Phong Port and Hai Phong's Lach Huyen Port. Sumitomo had showed interest in the Van Phong Port and the Belgium port operator is expected to engage in the Lach Huyen Port.'
   Vinalines plans to develop Van Phong Port into a modern international transshipment port, at a cost $169 million, with work to start on the first two berths later this year.
   Meanwhile, Thanh Nien reported, work on the $1.6 billion megaport in Lach Huyen is scheduled to begin in 2008, with the first berths to come online in 2010. Lach Huyen is envisioned as a gateway port for northern Vietnam.