After merging with Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh City owns the largest seaport cluster in the country with 176 wharves, including the "trump card" Cai Mep - Thi Vai, which receives ships over 150,000 DWT, directly connecting the route across the Pacific Ocean. cleared goods output has reached 14 million TEUs/year - on par with many seaport centers in the region - and is forecast to reach 26 million TEUs by 2030. This figure not only shows a huge commercial attraction, but also puts Ho Chi Minh City in the position of a "big player" on the international maritime map.
However, a worth pondering reality: Currently, Vietnam's seaports mainly stop at unloading services. Meanwhile, Singapore and Hong Kong (China) have become a global maritime hub thanks to the creation of a value-added service chain: Fuel supply, crew replacement, ship repair, financial services, healthcare, tourism. PSA - Singapore's central port - currently contributes up to 7% of the national GDP. Obviously, if we only consider seaports as a place for "unloading and unloading", we will only reach the top, missing the "gold mine" from high-quality maritime services.
When the International Maritime Center goes hand in hand with the International Financial Center (expected to open at the end of 2025), Ho Chi Minh City will become a convergence of goods - capital - data. This is the development triangle that creates a strong rebound. If this harmony is promoted, the city can completely become a "super center" of Southeast Asia.
But opportunities also mean pressure. If Ho Chi Minh City is slow, other centers in the region will continue to widen the gap. The problem is not only in infrastructure, but also in institutions, technology and development thinking. The city needs to soon plan a modern and synchronous logistics system; develop green ports, electric charging services for ships; cold chains for agricultural products in the Mekong Delta; apply AI and blockchain in supply chain management. Everything is within reach, the important thing is that we dare to go fast, dare to go first.
Gemadept's proposal for the International Maritime Center in Ho Chi Minh City - a leading brand in the Vietnamese seaport industry - at the thematic meeting on developing the infrastructure, seaports, logistics, and new energy sectors according to the public-private partnership model organized by the Private Economic Development Research Board (Board IV) under the Prime Minister's Administrative Procedure Reform Advisory Council on the morning of September 29 was not only a breakthrough proposal but also affirmed that the "public-private partnership" model had begun to bring results.
This is a model that leading private enterprises can take up, solving big problems for the country, for the industry, for the locality when registering for difficult projects that require high technology, large investments and large commitments.
Ho Chi Minh City is facing its own "Singapore moment". Strategic geographical advantages, cargo output, deep-water port systems - all are opening a big door. With businesses ready to participate in national defense, Ho Chi Minh City will be more motivated to become a new "shipping center" of Asia and the world.
