Can Tho needs to develop logistics centres to meet increasing demand for the transportation of goods by international and domestic airlines. Four businesses have put forward proposals to develop such centres in cooperation with the city.

Vo Thanh Thong, chairman of the People’s Committee of Can Tho City, made the statement at a meeting with the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s delegation on March 21 in Can Tho.

Logistics services for the transport of goods by air are very important for Can Tho and the Mekong Delta region, Thong said, because agricultural products, especially farming and fishery products, must be fresh if they are to be sold at high prices. Therefore, besides preservation, the moment of transport for those products is very important.

At present, Can Tho International Airport is connected with Ha Noi, Da Nang, Phu Quoc and Con Dao. In 2019, the airport will be connected through five new domestic routes to Hai Phong, Thanh Hoa, Vinh, Da Lat and Nha Trang and two international routes to Bangkok (Thailand) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).

Can Tho expects to exploit these routes for both transporting passengers and cargo, Thong said. Therefore, demand for logistics services is high, especially demand for the transport of fresh agricultural products.

Municipal authorities are in the process of studying the four investors that have made proposals to choose suitable partners, Thong said.

He said the projects need support from the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Transport to ensure efficiency, especially in terms of selecting partners.

At the meeting, minister of industry and trade Tran Tuan Anh said the ministry would continue to discuss more details about the development of air logistics centres with Can Tho’s authorities.

He said now the MoIT is in the process of talking with a Japanese partner about the development of a food processing centre in the Mekong Delta region. Under the project, an air logistics centre will be developed to serve the food processing centre.

The minister also asked Can Tho to pay more attention to attracting enterprises, especially from South Korea and Japan. The MoIT would cooperate with Can Tho to develop a plan on approaching the locality for both local and foreign enterprises.

In addition, the ministry wants to introduce to Can Tho some domestic businesses in promoting those projects such as Vietjet Air and SHB, he said.

This is a bridge connecting the businesses with the locality in developing those projects and creating value chains relating to market development in Can Tho and the Mekong Delta region.

In August 2018, Can Tho City People’s Committee and Vietnam Airlines Corporation (Vietnam Airlines) signed an agreement to develop the Can Tho Air Logistics Centre on an area of about 27 hectares next to Can Tho airport. — VNS