Gate
of the East-
West corridor
By Hung-Du-Phuong

Tien Sa Port.

The project on the “East-West Corridor”, initiated by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 1998 attracts great attention from the ASEAN public. The 500-km East-West Corridor runs from Mukhdahan in northeastern Thailand to Da Nang Port in Vietnam. When the ASEAN Free Trade Area is established the Corridor will become the busiest commercial centre of the Mekong sub-region. In the economic development of the Mekong sub-region, Da Nang Port (including Tien Sa and Han River Ports) has the function of a hub to handle goods transported to Laos and northeastern Thailand through the East Sea and vice versa. Tien Sa Port is being upgraded with Japanese ODA funds to serve as a gateway to the Pacific.

A port worker.

A foreign tourist ship moored
at Tien Sa Port.

Unloading containers.

Han River Port.

A very long time ago, Da Nang was an important port of Vietnam. Covering an area of 12 sq.km, Da Nang Bay, 10-17 m deep and safe, was an ideal anchorage for ships and boats. Located in central Vietnam, Da Nang City lies on the transport system of land routes, railways, waterways and airlines of the whole country and to other regional countries. It has a modern communication system, which serves as a gateway to the world. At present, it is an economic hub and the biggest city in central Vietnam. It has large factories involved in textiles, consumer goods, processing, mechanical, and construction material industries. Therefore, Da Nang Port has an important role in the economic development of the central area and Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) as well as in commercial trade with southern Laos and northeastern Cambodia. It is also an important port for tourist travel and transportation on the Asian sea route.

Han River Port has a wharf, 4 km long and 6.2 m deep, a container yard of 10,350 sq.m and two warehouses of 2,474 sq.m. It can accommodate ships up to 5,000 DWT and container and passenger ships. Its handling capacity is one million tonnes a year. Not far away is Tien Sa Port which lies on Da Nang Bay. It has a wharf 897m long and 12m deep, a commodity yard of 115,000 sq.m and warehouses of 20,290 sq.m. It can accommodate ships up to 30,000 DWT and specialized ships, such as RORO, container and passenger ships and ships carrying super long and heavy goods. Its handling capacity is three million tonnes a year. After upgrading this port will have a capacity of six million tonnes a year.

Da Nang Port’s Deputy Director Nguyen Xuan Dung, a man with a self-confident smile and the voice of a native of Quang Nam Province, talked about the activities at the Port. Although the volume of goods increased the port’s growth rate was not stable. To solve this problem the Port gradually replaced the old equipment, bought more equipment to increase the handling capacity and reformed the management. In the coming years Da Nang Port will implement multi-form transportation to enable the passage of container ships to other countries. The trend of global integration requires a quick handling of containers, so a computerized control centre to serve the activities at the port will be established. That is included in the Tien Sa Port-upgrading project, capitalized at USD 200 million with two phrases from 2001 to 2004. When the project is completed, Tien Sa Port will be able to accommodate ships up to 35,000 DWT and container ships up to 20,000 DWT and ensure their absolute safety.

Da Nang Port, the last terminal of the trans-Asia route on the “East-West Corridor” line will attract more investors to do business, helping to bring the central region out of poverty.