Mr. Vo Quoc Huy, Chairman of Long An Port JSC, and Mr. Mario Cordero, Chief Executive Officer of Port of Long Beach, signing the Letter of Intent at 5:00 p.m., November 15, 2023 in San Francisco, California, USA
At 5:00 p.m., November 15, 2023 (Pacific Standard Time), Long An International Port (Vietnam) and Port of Long Beach (USA) signed a letter of intent to agree on establishing a sister port relationship coinciding with the event welcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation partners organized by the California Association of Port Authorities (CAPA). The signing ceremony was attended by Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis, California State Transportation Agency Secretary Toks Omishakin, and GO-Biz Director Dee Dee Myers.
Mr. Vo Quoc Huy, Chairman of Long An Port JSC (third from the right), and Mr. Mario Cordero, Chief Executive Officer of Port of Long Beach (second from the right), signed the Letter of Intent in the presence of Long An provincial leaders, Dongtam Group representative, and Mr. Samuel Assefa, Director of California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (rightmost)
Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis spoke at the conference, highlighting the importance of seaports to the economy of California, which accounts for more than 40% of goods imported from and exported to the United States.
The signing ceremony is a milestone towards formalizing a Sister Ports relationship between the two ports, opening up opportunities for cooperation, sharing of experiences in port management and operation, enhancing market connectivity to increase transshipment cargo volume, and sustainable development. The event contributes to promoting global trade and exploring growth opportunities between the two key Transpacific ports.
Mr. Nguyen Minh Lam, Vice Chairman of Long An Provincial People’s Committee, and Mr. Dang Hoang Tuan, Director of Long An Provincial Department of Transport, discussed with and invited Mr. Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency to visit Long An Province in the most suitable time.
“We value this partnership with Port of Long Beach, a well-recognized port of choice on the global stage, as we embark on our journey to become an internationally recognized port of choice in Asia. We believe that this relationship will bring many benefits to both parties and hope to soon materialize the relationship through cooperation activities in the fields that both parties are interested in.” said Mr. Vo Quoc Huy, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Long An Port JSC.
Also at the event, Mr. Mario Cordero, Chief Executive Officer of Port of Long Beach, said: “We are glad to welcome the delegation of Long An Province and leaders of Dong Tam Group attending the Conference of California Association of Port Authorities (CAPA) and are pleased to sign a Letter of Intent with Long An International Port. This signing ceremony demonstrates our desire to promote the signing of cooperation agreements not only for trade purposes but also towards sustainable development, emissions reduction, and environmental friendliness. Thus, we want to cooperate long-term so that Long An International Port and Port of Long Beach can be a bridge to transship goods from Vietnam to the United States and vice versa.”
Port of Long Beach, located in Southern California, is one of the world’s premier seaports, having six container terminals and an annual cargo turnover of 200 billion US dollars. It is ranked as the number one export seaport in the US and the 21st busiest container cargo port in the world. Port of Long Beach is continuously upgrading its transportation capacity aimed at increasing its capacity to handle containerized imports and exports flowing through the trans-Pacific trade route to maintain its position as one of the world’s biggest ports.
Panoramic view of Port of Long Beach
Handling activities at Port of Long Beach
Within the framework of the program to visit and work in the United States, the Long An Provincial delegation led by Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Minh Lam, along with Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Council Mai Van Nhieu, aims to connect businesses in Vietnam and US localities in the fields of industry, digital transformation, import-export services, logistics, education, among others.
The cooperative relationship between Vietnam and the United States has made significant progress and is increasingly deepening. Activities to promote economic-trade-investment cooperation have brought together many interested agencies, associations, and businesses of the two countries with the goal of promoting bilateral cooperation based on foreign relations as a result of the close relationship after the two countries upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
Mr. Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (middle) with Mr. Nguyen Minh Lam, Vice Chairman of Long An Provincial People’s Committee (second right), and Mr. Dang Hoang Tuan (second left) participated in the event welcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation partners.
The 147-hectare Long An International Port is located adjacent to the industrial park, industrial service area, and urban area. The four key development areas are intended to form an industrial ecosystem that will become the hub for the smooth flow of trade in and out of Long An Province and bring added value to the entire Mekong Delta. Long An International Port provides a full range of port and logistics services, including container, bulk and general cargo handling, warehousing, international freight forwarding, barge and truck transportation, and customs brokerage.
