Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended a ceremony on February 13 to welcome international vessels in the Year of the Dragon and gave the order to handle the first cargo shipment in the new year at the Tan Cang - Cai Mep Port (TCIT) in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.

The Tan Cang - Cai Mep Port cluster, operated by the Saigon New Port Corporation, is a national gateway and transit point for goods between Vietnam and countries around the world, especially key export and import markets of Vietnam in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

It posted growth of 10 per cent last year, with total container cargo passing through the port reaching 2.7 million TEUs.

After 15 years of development, the deep-water TCIT facility has the largest throughput in Vietnam. It has berthed more than 5,000 vessels to date from nearly 30 shipping corporations around the world, with total throughput amounting to nearly 18 million TEUs.

Addressing the ceremony, Prime Minister Chinh asked the Saigon New Port Corporation to build, connect, and modernize its seaports and inland ports as well as speed up the application of science and technology and promote innovation and digital transformation to contribute to cutting logistics costs and product costs, thus helping raise the competitiveness of Vietnam’s economy and businesses.