A 30,000 tonnes ship docks at the Saigon Premiere Container Terminal (SPCT) in HCM City. -- Photo vms-south.vn

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) -- HCM City is developing a system of seaports to facilitate trade activities between the city and its vicinity.

The city is currently home to 38 seaports with a total length of nearly 13 kilometres, including Tan Cang – Cat Lai, Saigon , and Saigon Premiere Container Terminal (SPCT).

According to Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Le Hoang Quan, the city's seaports handled 109 million tonnes of cargo and generated over VND15 trillion (US$705 million) in 2014, an annual rise of 15.3 percent.

The outcomes were attributable to the city's investment in key transport infrastructure projects.

The completion of the second phase of the Soai Rap dredging project is an example. The project worth VND 2.8 trillion ($131.5 million) was commissioned in late June 2014, enabling faster navigation and handling 30,000-50,000 dead weight tonnage ships.

The total volume of goods transported via the river in 2014 reached 7.2 million tonnes, a yearly increase of 16 percent.

The Saigon New Port company manages 16 ports, including two inland container depots (ICD) from the south to the north. The Cat Lai port in District 2 is listed in the top 34 modern and big container ports in the world.

According to the national seaport development plan through 2020, HCM City is the southeast region's key port with functional wharf areas of Hiep Phuoc on Soai Rap River and Cat Lai on Dong Nai River .

The region's seaports are expected to handle 185-200 million tonnes of cargo in 2015, 265-305 million tonnes in 2020, and 495-650 million tonnes in 2030.

Le Hoang Minh, Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Transport, said the city is relocating Saigon New Port , Ba Son shipyard, Nha Rong-Khanh Hoi port, Vegetable port and Tan Thuan Dong Port on the Saigon River .

HCM City is planning 2,000 hectares for the construction of the Hiep Phuoc urban industrial complex along the Soai Rap River which could welcome 50,000-70,000 dead weight tonnage ships from the East Sea to the Hiep Phuoc seaports cluster, reducing transport time and increasing goods exchanges between the city and Mekong Delta localities as well as other industrial hubs in the southeast region.

Apart from investing in developing the seaports system in Cat Lai and Hiep Phuoc regions, the city is focusing on connecting the land and waterway transport networks such as belt roads No. 2, 3 and 4 linking the city with the Hiep Phuoc port and industrial park, the HCM City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay highway, and the Ben Luc-Long Thanh highway.

The city will also build a railway connecting Hiep Phuoc port with Long Dinh station in Can Duoc district and Long An international port in Can Giuoc district. -- VNA/VNS