Ba Ria - Vung Tau: Striving to become an important marine economic center

The Project to Develop Ba Ria - Vung Tau into a national marine economic center is not only a strategic plan, but also demonstrates the province's strong determination to attract brainpower and mobilize the participation of the whole society in the development process.

The largest international transit port system in Vietnam

With the advantage of a long coastline, diverse marine ecosystem, the largest oil and gas reserves in the country, deep-water ports and a strategic location in the Southeast region, Ba Ria Vung Tau province (BR-VT) is implementing a roadmap to become a national marine economic center by 2030, meeting national criteria for sustainable marine economic development; forming and developing key marine economic sectors that meet international standards, including: sea and island tourism; maritime economy (seaports, logistics, maritime transport services); exploitation of oil and gas and other marine mineral resources; coastal industry; aquaculture and seafood exploitation; renewable energy and new marine economic sectors. At the same time, focusing on protecting the marine environment, responding to climate change and rising sea levels.

In addition, the province strives to have the proportion of marine economic sectors in the province's GRDP (excluding oil and gas) reach about 60% by 2030, of which pure marine economic sectors account for about 20%. By 2050, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province's seaports will be classified as special seaports and the largest international gateway and transit port system in Vietnam.

CMIT Port, one of the largest ports in Cai Mep - Thi Vai, is always a pioneer in receiving large ships with a capacity of over 200,000 tons - Photo: Tra Ngan

In recent times, in addition to building logistic service centers and strongly developing the port system, the Party Committee and BR-VT have focused on building plans, programs and projects to exploit the strengths of the marine economy, focusing on sectors and fields related to infrastructure such as: transportation, electricity, water, financial services, credit, healthcare,education ; investing deeply in key sectors such as mineral exploitation, industrial service development, oil and gas services; seaport services and logistics services, tourism development and tourism services; seafood logistics services, etc.

Shifting development methods from “brown” to “green”

The project "Developing Ba Ria - Vung Tau to become a national marine economic center" of the province is not only a strategic plan but also a manifestation of the government's strong determination in attracting brainpower and mobilizing the participation of the whole society in the development process.

This project emphasizes the development of the marine economy in association with the green economy, circular economy and energy transition. New sectors such as offshore wind power, green hydrogen and renewable energy will be strategic spearheads, contributing to the goal of net zero emissions by 2050 that Vietnam committed to at COP26.

Three strategic breakthroughs identified in the Project include: Perfecting institutions, building a transparent and favorable legal environment; developing high-quality marine human resources and investing in marine science and technology research; upgrading key infrastructure, especially the seaport system, inter-regional transport and coastal industrial zones.

Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway - Photo: Quang Hung

In addition, BR-VT also focuses on promoting synchronous investment in transport infrastructure systems such as Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway, railways, coastal routes, inter-port routes and inland waterways. This connection will create new momentum for trade and attract investment, reducing the load on the traditional transport system.

Recently, Ba Ria - Vung Tau continues to plan and expand coastal industrial zones associated with logistics services, export processing and renewable energy development. It is not difficult to see that a modern marine value chain, deeply integrated with the global economy, is becoming increasingly clear.

Turn Cai Mep - Thi Vai into a modern international transit port

According to experts, for Ba Ria - Vung Tau to develop to its full potential, it is necessary to strongly promote regional connectivity with neighboring localities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, and Binh Duong. The early completion of railway and metro lines connecting the region will create a dynamic development axis, shorten the distance and create a breakthrough momentum for the region.

One of the key orientations is to turn Cai Mep - Thi Vai into a modern international transit port, while developing a national logistics center at Cai Mep Ha. This will be a key connection point, playing a role in coordinating the supply chain and increasing the value of goods not only for the Southern key economic region but also for the whole country.

In the middle of last year, the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence ranked the Cai Mep container ports in the world 32nd in terms of capacity and 12th in terms of best performance index in terms of CPPI (Container Port Performance Index) for 348 global container ports.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Tho affirmed: "Building a national marine economic center is not only the province's own goal but also the responsibility of the Southeast region and the whole country."

Phuoc Thuan

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/ba-ria-vung-tau-no-luc-vuon-tam-thanh-trung-tam-kinh-te-bien-quan-trong-2417237.html