Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Thai Thanh Quy surveys and exchanges experiences on port development and operation in Hamburg, Germany
On the morning of June 14th (local time), a working delegation from Nghe An province arrived in Hamburg, Germany. The delegation was led by Mr. Thai Thanh Quy, Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, and Head of the Provincial Delegation to the National Assembly. The delegation was accompanied by representatives from the Vietnamese Embassy in Germany.
The working delegation included the following officials: Mr. Le Duc Cuong - Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial Organizational Commission; Major General Bui Quang Thanh - Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Director of the Provincial Police; Mr. Nguyen Nhu Khoi - Member of the Provincial Party Committee's Executive Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Mr. Bui Dinh Long - Member of the Provincial Party Committee's Executive Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Directors of the Departments: Planning and Investment, Finance, Transportation, Agriculture and Rural Development, Foreign Affairs.
Meeting and working with the delegation were Dr. Martin Albers, representative of the Ministry for Economics and Innovation of Hamburg, and Mr. Ian James, Vice President for Asia-Pacific Region at Hamburg Port Consulting (HPC), part of the Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) Group.
During the meeting, Mr. Ian James briefed the delegation on the activities of the HHLA. This multinational corporation is among Europe's leading companies in the port sector, managing ports in Hamburg (Germany), Tallinn (Estonia), Trieste (Italy), and Odessa (Ukraine).
HHLA's strength lies in its multimodal port operation model, which ensures maximum cost optimization for customers. Therefore, HHLA not only operates seaports but also owns an extensive rail transport network in Europe with 50 locomotives, 3,000 freight cars, and 19 transshipment centers in Italy, Poland, Russia and so on.
Mr. Ian James elaborated that HPC, a subsidiary of HHLA, is a leading port and logistics consulting firm providing services and software solutions to support sustainable growth for ports, terminals, and rail sectors worldwide. Their services range from strategic planning to investment, management, and operational optimization of ports globally, offering port management consultancy to governments, local authorities, shipping companies, and integrating seaports, river ports, and air transport.
HPC has provided consultancy for over 1,750 projects in 135 countries, including Australia, Chile, Argentina, Malaysia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and has participated in consulting for Cat Lai Port (Vietnam). Additionally, the company offers digital transformation solutions to connect port authorities, customers, government agencies, tax authorities, and warehouses, ensuring seamless logistics operations.
During the meeting, Secretary of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee Thai Thanh Quy and the members of the working delegation exchanged and gained additional insights from the experiences of the Hamburg state and HHLA in general, and HPC in particular, regarding marine economic development, the establishment of comprehensive plans for port project development, and the attraction of investments for projects surrounding the port.
Dr. Martin Albers and Mr. Ian James shared and discussed experiences from the perspective of government management as well as port operation and development consultancy from the enterprise side.
During the meeting, Secretary of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee Thai Thanh Quy expressed: "With 82 km of coastline and being situated on the North-South axis of Vietnam and the East-West economic corridor, serving as a potential gateway to the sea for Laos and the Northeastern region of Thailand, Nghe An has long established a system of seaports with 20 berths totaling approximately 3.5 km in length.
"We are in the process of constructing a deep-water seaport, expected to commence this year", Mr. Thai Thanh Quy said. He thanked the Ministry for Economics and Innovation of Hamburg and HHLA leaders for sharing valuable information and experiences that will aid in developing Nghe An's seaports and marine economy, expressing hope for future connections between Nghe An's deep-water port investors and HPC.
Following the meeting, Secretary Thai Thanh Quy and the delegation visited and were introduced to the operational processes of the Port of Hamburg, in which HHLA owns a 31% stake, with the Hamburg state government holding the remaining 69%.
Situated on the Elbe River, 110 km from its mouth into the North Sea, the Port of Hamburg has a strategic and historic position, established in 1189 and known as Germany's "gateway to the world."
Currently, it is Germany's largest port, the second busiest in Europe (after the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands) in terms of container throughput, and the 11th largest globally.
Covering an area of 73.99 km², of which 43.31 km² is land, the Port of Hamburg handles not only cargo transportation but also industrial processing, storage, and handling of primarily imported goods.
At the port, HHLA has optimized operational processes, particularly through technology application for automating cargo handling in functional areas.
