HANOI, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's Ministry of Transport (MoT) has approved a bid to lease the Cai Mep-Thi Vai international port in the southern coastal Ba RiaVung Tau province for 30 years, the first bid of its kind so far, reported the Vietnam Government Portal on Monday.
Accordingly, the Vietnam Maritime Administration said it is looking for qualified operators for both the Cai Mep international terminal and the Thi Vai general cargo terminal.
Two bidding for the two ports will take place in the third or fourth quarter of this year.
The fixed annual package price is 219.5 million U.S. dollars for the Cai Mep terminal and 130.5 million U.S. dollars for the Thi Vai general cargo terminal.
Investors would have to make another payment besides the fixed price, and this payment would change every year, depending on the pre-tax profits of the investors, according to the administration.
According to MoT, the bid is being held to ensure that the ports would be operated by investors with strong financial and professional capacity. It is expected to reduce monopolies, increase competitiveness and improve services, and could create a breakthrough for many seaports in Vietnam.
FDI businesses could also take part in the bid, said the ministry.
The Cai Mep-Thi Vai port complex opened in late January after four years of construction. The project, worths 13 trillion VND ( 613.8 million U.S. dollars), was financed by Japan's Official Development Assistance loans and Vietnam's reciprocal capital.
The Cai Mep terminal consists of two piers of 600 meters in length. It can handle vessels of up to 100,000 DWT and has an annual capacity of around 700,000 TEUs.
The Thi Vai terminal also has two piers, and can handle ships of 50,000 tons. It has a capacity of 1.6-2 million tons per year.
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