Northern central provinces of Vietnam, including Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, and Ha Tinh have advantages to develop port services as they are located in a strategic position to transport goods from Laos – a neighbuoring country to the world. With more than 300 km of coast, each province has at least one seaport and three to four fishing ports. However, seaport planning is not entirely effective.  Under planning, Vung Ang port of Ha Tinh province can receive vessels of up to 62,000 DWT However, goods transported through the port are non-container goods and the port’s logistics system has not met requirements to become a container port. The port’s transport and linkage systems are also incomplete. "The amount of goods through the port fell in 2016 and 2017, but increased in 2017. It’s necessary to improve internal transportation and logistics services," said Deputy Director of the Laos-Vietnam International Port Company, Cao Minh Xuan. Meanwhile, Cua Lo port in Nghe An province is the only port which has capacity to transport container goods. However, the port  began operation in the 1970s, and it now needs development and expansion.

Nguyen Xuan Truong, Deputy Director of the Cua Lo Port said that last year, Cua Lo port received nearly 4 million tones of goods, up 15 percent compared to 2016.

"The port is scheduled to put into operation another wharf this year to increase its capacity to bigger vessels. Currently, the port can only receive vessels of 15,000 tonnes," Truong said. Each coastal province has advantages to development their seaport. However, if there are too many small ports, operating ineffectively, it will waste resources of the country and society.-VNA