Before Vietnam’s Cai Mep port was put into operation in June 2009, goods went to Hong Kong or Singapore and then were transferred to bigger ships heading to the US. The longer itinerary of export goods cost Vietnamese exporters more money and they had to endure high risks during the shipping, loading, and re-loading of goods.
According to Hoa, Vietnam loses $1.7 billion every year to carry export goods via transit ports. On average, enterprises spend $400 more to take roundabout routes. The figure may be double or triple if import goods are counted. Experts have pointed out that poor infrastructure has made logistics fees of Vietnamese businesses much higher than that of other countries.