Busan Ramps Up Cooperation with Vietnam in Shipping and Port Sectors

Secretary General To Lam of the Vietnamese Communist Party, escorted by BPA President Song Sang-geun, looks around the seventh wharf of Busan New Port, the nation’s first fully automated terminal, on Aug. 13. (Photo: BPA)

Busan and Vietnam are strengthening cooperation in the shipping and port sectors.

Korea is expected to seize an opportunity to transfer its excellent technology and operational capabilities to Vietnam for the upcoming development of its port facilities.

To Lam, secretary general of the Vietnamese Communist Party, toured the seventh wharf of Busan New Port, the nation’s first fully automated terminal, on Aug. 13.

Secretary General Lam’s tour was designed to give him a first-hand look at the smart operation of Busan Port and explore the possibility of cooperation with Korea in Vietnam’s development of its ports.

During the day, Busan Port Authority (BPA) gave a briefing session to a ranking 60-odd member Vietnamese delegation on the status of the operation of Busan Port, transshipment-oriented port competitiveness and strategies to build smart port.

The delegation was able to have a better understanding of the automation system of the Dongwon Global Terminal Busan (DGT) and Busan Port’s smart port technology power.

The delegates were known to have expressed surprise about the advanced operation of Busan Port.

Meanwhile, BPA had a meeting with officials from Gia Lai Province, who accompanied Secretary General Lam, on the same day.

The meeting was attended by 13 Vietnamese officials and President Ahn Byung-gil of Korea Ocean Business Corp. and KOBC officials.

Both sides exchanged views, such as the possible cooperation in the development of port infrastructure in Gai Lai Province, Korean companies’ market entry examples in Vietnam and KOBC’s support structure.

Korea and Vietnam are each other’s third largest trading partners.

Busan Port handles 800,000 TEU annually, accounting for 53 percent of the total container cargo volumes between Korea and Vietnam.

Both countries saw the cargo volumes grow an annual average of 7.6 percent during the recent five-year period between 2020 and 2024.

Busan and Vietnam operate 44 shipping liner routes. Busan has so far maintained exchanges with Vietnam. Starting with the then Vietnamese party secretary general’s visit, ranking Vietnamese officials have regularly visited Busan Port.

Both countries’ strengthened cooperation is expected to have synergetic effects in the shipping and port sectors.

BPA President Song Sang-geun said, “Vietnam is a new emerging key market with a dynamic growth potential, and the visit is expected to ramp up exchanges with major Vietnamese ports, including Hoh Chi Minh and Cai Mep ports, on top of the cooperation in the development of overseas ports and ramping up economic cooperation between both countries.”

KOBC President Ahn said, “If Korean shipping and port logistics companies enter Gia Lai Province and develop its port, we will proactively explore roles we can play, and the meeting is hoped to become a starting point in a new era of cooperation between both countries.”

BPA Launch AI Promotion Team to Expand AI Technologies

Busan Port Authority has inaugurated the BPA AI Promotion Team to support Korea’s goal of becoming a global top-three AI power player, one of the new government’s national policy goals.

The 30-member team is manned by the senior executive vice president, in charge of management, the chief of the recently inaugurated digital AI department and the head of the Planning and Cooperation Office, the latter two serving as joint working-heads.

The AI promotion team is charged with exploring major action strategies and action tasks, as well as establishing a BPA AI promotion strategy plan. It plans to work out a short- mid- and long-term action roadmap by 2030 and implement tasks while communication with inside and outside stakeholders.

BPA President Song said, “We have strived for a digital transition shift by developing the transshipment monitoring system ‘Port-I,’ the transshipment transportation system ‘TSS’ and the electronic delivery order ‘E-SLI’ and BPA plans to concentrate its capabilities to raise the competitiveness of Busan Port by expanding AI technologies to a wide range of areas, such as the preventing of Busan Port disasters and safety accidents.”