Establishment of Council for appraisal of the policy of building Cai Mep Ha port complex

Illustration photo.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha signed Decision No. 1593/QD-TTg dated July 24, 2025 on the establishment of the State Appraisal Council to appraise the dossier approving the investment policy of the Cai Mep Ha downstream port complex project, logistics center and industrial, urban and service functional area in Ho Chi Minh City (the Council).

According to the decision, the Chairman of the Council is the Minister of Finance; the Ministry of Finance is also assigned as the standing body of the Council.

The Council members include leaders of the Ministries of Construction; National Defense; Public Security; Industry and Trade; Agriculture and Environment; Science and Technology; Culture, Sports and Tourism; Justice and leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee.

The responsibilities and powers of the Council, Chairman, Vice Chairman and members are implemented according to the provisions of Decree No. 29/2021/ND-CP dated March 26, 2021 of the Government on the order and procedures for appraising important national projects and monitoring and evaluating investment.

The decision clearly states that Council members are responsible for providing their opinions within the deadline. In case of a deadline without a written response, that member is considered to have agreed with the content of the consultation and must take full responsibility.

At the same time, agencies with members of the State Appraisal Council are required to send a written dispatch to the Council's standing agency (Ministry of Finance) before July 26, 2025.

The Cai Mep Ha Downstream Port Complex Project is considered very necessary in the context of the seaport system in the Cai Mep - Thi Vai area increasingly affirming its strategic position.

Currently, this is the most developed port network in the country, concentrating many large international container ports such as Gemalink, CMIT, TCIT, SP-PSA, SITV... with synchronous and modern infrastructure. In particular, this port cluster is capable of receiving mother ships with a capacity of up to 250,000 tons.

Cai Mep - Thi Vai deep-water port cluster is playing the role of a strategic export gateway for the entire Southeast economic region and the whole country.

According to the 2024 report of the World Bank (WB) and S&P Global, this port cluster ranked 7th globally in the Container Port Performance Index (CPPI), surpassing major transshipment hubs such as Yokohama (Japan), Hong Kong (China) or Singapore.

Since the beginning of 2025, the position of the port cluster has continued to be enhanced. On May 17, SSIT port welcomed the Zim Wilmington ship, officially joining the shipping route directly connecting Vietnam with the east coast of the United States, jointly operated by Zim Shipping (Israel) and MSC (the world's largest shipping company).

Notably, in the newly formed Gemini alliance between two shipping giants, Maersk (Denmark) and Hapag Lloyd (Germany), Cai Mep - Thi Vai was chosen as the only major port in southern Vietnam. Currently, there are 48 international container ship routes calling at the port every week, an increase of 11 routes compared to last year.