On the afternoon of April 5, Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang had a working session and received Mr. Robert Maersk Uggla - Chairman of APM and Maersk Group - and the working delegation at the headquarters of the Ministry of Finance, on the occasion of the enterprise's inauguration ceremony of hateco International Container Port in Hai Phong.
At the meeting, Minister Nguyen Van Thang highly appreciated the presence of APM and Maersk Group in Vietnam, and congratulated the inauguration ceremony of Hateco. The Minister said that despite the difficult global economic context, Vietnam still maintained a high growth momentum with GDP in 2024 reaching 7.09%. In the first three months of 2025, the economy continued to keep a strong growth, one of the global bright spots.
Along with economic development, Vietnam focuses on developing strategic transport infrastructure from road, sea and air in a synchronous, smart, green and modern manner. This is also the orientation of the Vietnamese Government to improve the efficiency of the economy, facilitate businesses through developing the logistics chain to connect Vietnam with the world, Minister Nguyen Van Thang emphasized.
In the field of seaports, Vietnam focuses on building and developing large seaports according to the plan, enhancing the connection of seaports with inland waterway ports, the goal of enhancing this connection will reduce logistics costs for businesses.
The Minister added that the Ministry of Finance, after the merger, is also the unit responsible for calling for attracting FDI enterprises to invest in Vietnam. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance always encourages Vietnamese enterprises to cooperate with partners with financial capacity, reputation, and experience in different fields, contributing to bringing economic growth to the country, while also bringing benefits to enterprises and partners.
In response, Mr. Robert Maersk Uggla expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome from the Ministry of Finance and shared his desire to expand investment in Vietnam. The Chairman of Maersk Group said that the enterprise is currently operating in Vietnam in three main areas: shipping, providing large-sized container transportation services and domestic logistics. He affirmed that Vietnam is always a strategic market, with great development potential.
After investing in Cai Mep - Thi Vai Port (Ba Ria - Vung Tau) and working with hateco to develop a deep-water port in Hai Phong, Maersk continues to be interested in the Lien Chieu Port project (Da Nang) - which was approved by the National Assembly in Resolution 136/2024/QH15 on the pilot establishment of a Free Trade Zone associated with seaports.
Minister Nguyen Van Thang affirmed that Vietnam welcomes professional investors such as APM and Maersk and domestic partners to participate in strategic projects such as Lien Chieu Port. The Ministry of Finance is ready to create favorable conditions for businesses to develop and operate effectively, contributing to the overall development of Vietnam and the region.
