Declining, slow progress for many years
In March 2025, Lao Dong Newspaper published an article "The unfinished wharf has signs of leasing" reflecting on the My Dinh ICD wharf project in the old Duc Thuong commune, now Hoai Duc commune (hereinafter referred to as the wharf project) invested by International Investment, Trade and Service Joint Stock Company (ILS).
At that time, according to the reporter's survey, the current status of the project was almost still an empty lot, with only a part of the land in the project for machinery, materials and a welcome gate with the words "My Dinh ICD Wharf Port". Here, the reporter did not see any construction moves taking place.
Faced with this situation, the leaders of Hanoi City held a meeting to review and resolve the difficulties and problems of the project and requested the project to start construction before June 30, 2025.
However, by the end of July and early August, according to the reporter's records, there had been no improvement in the current status of the dry port project.
Grass is still growing wildly, water flooded the entire path, entering and exiting the project site. Construction materials are piled up and lying around.
The dry port project has been stalled for many years. On the website of International Investment, Trade and Service Joint Stock Company (ILS), it is introduced: The My Dinh ICD dry port project has an area of 18 hectares. Capacity: 150,000 TEUs. Total investment: VND 1,704 billion
On January 6, 2017, ILS held a groundbreaking ceremony for the project. At that time, the company said the project progress was as follows:
Phase 1: Complete and put into use in 2018 the following items: Yard, inspection house, external warehouse, CFS warehouse, refrigerated warehouse, distribution warehouse, office, security system... with an area of over 10 hectares.
Phase 2: Complete the remaining construction items, complete construction investment to put the entire project into operation in 2020.
It was once expected to be a new customs clearance location for businesses with a full system of standard warehouses: export warehouses, CFS warehouses, refrigeration warehouses, e-commerce warehouses, offices of customs authorities, shipping lines... However, the project has become a real disappointment and frustration for local people.
Failure to comply with the direction of Hanoi City
At a working session with reporters at the end of March 2025, Mr. Trieu Van Bang - Deputy General Director of Interserco - ILS International Investment, Trade and Service Joint Stock Company said that the project has cleared more than 99%. Basically, we have no problems, but regarding the site clearance progress, there are things that need to be done according to the correct process, said Mr. Bang.
On July 28, PV continued to contact ILS to find out why the project had not yet started, an officer of this unit said that the project "is following the progress of relevant parties. This is also related to the progress of departments and branches in handling procedures. The unit is still following that".
The reporter also contacted the Department of Construction and the Hanoi Department of Finance to clarify the incident. However, after many contacts, the leaders of ILS company and the authorities have not yet responded.
In fact, regarding the settlement of problems for the project, the authorities have issued very specific instructions before. In particular, regarding compensation and site clearance, in mid-March 2025, the leaders of Hanoi City assigned local agencies to speed up compensation and site clearance, review and agree with Hanoi Electricity Corporation to resolve problems regarding site clearance funding for the 3 legs of the 110 KV power pole in the project land, and report to the Department of Industry and Trade for synthesis, consultation, proposal and reporting to the City People's Committee.
Request to complete compensation and site clearance before April 30, 2025.
The Department of Agriculture and Environment urgently has a document contributing to the appraisal of the dossier to adjust the investment policy for the dry port construction investment project to the Department of Finance for synthesis and reporting to the City People's Committee according to regulations (requiring the project to be completed no later than 2027).
After the decision to adjust the investment policy for the dry port project is approved, the Departments of Agriculture and Environment and Construction are assigned to guide investors to urgently deploy and complete land procedures and construction permits according to regulations.
The leaders of the City People's Committee emphasized the need for investors to focus resources, send a document to the Department of Finance to commit to the progress of the investment project, to start the investment project before June 30, 2025 and complete it no later than 2027.
Thus, it can be seen that, although there have been clear instructions from the Hanoi City government on the time of construction (after many delays), the dry port project has not yet seen any construction moves.
Many opinions say that it is necessary to consider the investor's capacity, problems and difficulties related to the project and take strong measures to avoid wasting land resources.
