Hanoi to complete construction of inland container depots soon

Hanoi’s authority is urging to soon complete and put Co Bi and Duc Thuong, the two ICD projects whose construction is delayed, into operation soon. 

These ICDs are part of the capital's development plan for the 2020-2025 period as well as to help businesses carry out customs formalities more quickly and conveniently. 

The My Dinh ICD, one of the two current ones in Hanoi. HNT Photo: Tuan The

The Co Bi ICD project in Gia Lam District has a total area of 47.2ha, whose construction is divided into two phases with a first-phase cargo capacity of 380,000 TEUs a year and the second one of 760,000 TEUs. The project was expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2020 and put into operation in early 2021. 

However, to date, the project hasn’t been completed though the City People's Committee, on December 1, 2020, issued a document requesting investors to implement the project in accordance with the committed regulations and schedule. The city’s departments and branches were urged to closely monitor the execution of the project and report to the municipal authority for consideration and direction to solve any issues. 

Another project, Duc Thuong in Hoai Duc District, covers an area of 17.74 hectares with a capacity of 151,800 TEUs a year. The total investment of the project is VND1.7 trillion (US$74.8 million). It is expected to be put into operation in 2020. However, as of September 2021, the project has faced difficulties in land clearance.

Enhancing position

According to Dr. Phan Le Binh, a local traffic expert, the inland clearance depot helps to solve the situation of cargo congestion. Dry ports would boost import-export and logistic activities, thereby promoting international trade, facilitating access to foreign markets for exporters.

To create conditions for businesses to carry out import and export procedures in the locality, Hanoi’s leaders have paid great attention to the construction of logistics centers for years with two current inland ports of My Dinh and Long Bien. 

The My Dinh ICD has a total area of 55,000m2 including a system of bonded and container freight station warehouses, cold/cool storage, post-clearance warehouse, express delivery center, import-export cargo yard.

Long Bien ICD, located at Sai Dong B Industrial Park, is considered a major port of the North, linking with provinces and cities such as Hung Yen, Hai Duong, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Bac Ninh, and Thai Nguyen. 

With a storage capacity of about 135,000 TEUs a year, the Long Bien ICD is expected to be a modern logistics center meeting the increasing demand for logistics services.

According to the detailed planning of Vietnam’s inland port system to 2020, with a vision to 2030, the country would have eight dry ports and 16 cargo clearance points with a function as ICD. 

Among them, the North has seven ICDs and seven domestic clearance points while the South has one ICD and nine domestic clearance points. There is no ICD in the Central region.