Antwerp Courts Ho Chi Minh City as Vietnam Builds Transshipment Ambitions

Belgium is proposing Antwerp — Europe's second-largest seaport — as a partner city for Ho Chi Minh City, aiming to anchor itself in Vietnam's push to turn the Cai Mep-Thi Vai port complex into an international transshipment hub. The offer came from Belgian Ambassador Leenknegt during a meeting with Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee chairman Nguyen Van Duoc on Tuesday.

The commercial logic is straightforward. Two port cities with parallel development strategies, in the ambassador's framing, share considerable potential for cooperation. What the proposal does not yet include is any committed capital, terminal concession, or operational agreement — the kind of detail that would tell shippers and carriers whether this is a deal or a diplomatic gesture.

What is actually on the table?

Chairman Duoc confirmed that Ho Chi Minh City is developing Cai Mep-Thi Vai, roughly 70 kilometers southeast of the city center on the Thi Vai River, with the stated ambition of becoming an international transshipment hub. Belgium, home to one of Europe's most important transshipment ports, is positioned as a natural counterpart.

The groundwork predates this week's meeting. During a visit to Belgium in October, Party General Secretary and State President To Lam toured Antwerp's port system and held meetings with local partners to discuss cooperation in port operations and logistics. Since taking office, Ambassador Leenknegt has moved quickly: he led a Flanders business delegation to meet port partners in Ho Chi Minh City in October, and his latest visit brought a Wallonia delegation to explore business and investment opportunities.

How big is the trade relationship today?

The numbers explain Belgium's urgency and also its modest starting point. Bilateral trade between Belgium and Ho Chi Minh City topped $658 million between January and October — a figure that, for context, is smaller than what a single large container terminal moves in cargo value over the same period. Belgium currently has 62 investment projects in the city with total registered capital of nearly $73 million, an average of roughly $1.2 million per project.

Duoc called Belgium one of the city's important partners in Europe and pressed for stronger cooperation between local authorities, closer business connections, and greater efforts to promote trade and investment.

Beyond the quays: pharma, chips and energy

The port talk is only one track. Duoc signaled that Ho Chi Minh City wants Belgian firms to look harder at its investment environment, particularly in:

• high technology and digital transformation;
• energy;
• healthcare and pharmaceuticals.

He paired the pharma pitch with a specific argument: the city is prioritizing its healthcare sector and pharmaceutical industry, while Belgium has considerable strengths in pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing. On semiconductors, he said the southern metropolis offers a relatively strong pool of skilled workers and a well-developed technology business ecosystem, matched by Belgium's renowned companies and institutions in chip production.

Ambassador Leenknegt affirmed that trade and investment rank among the key priorities on his agenda, and said Belgium's semiconductor research and technology ecosystem offers substantial opportunities for cooperation with Vietnam. He expressed confidence that connecting Ho Chi Minh City with Belgian research institutions and businesses would pave the way for collaboration in training a skilled semiconductor engineering workforce.

For forwarders and carriers, none of this changes routing decisions tomorrow. No vessel deployments, slot arrangements, or terminal investments were announced. What it does signal is that Vietnam intends to compete for transshipment traffic currently consolidated at Singapore and Port Klang, with European port expertise — and potentially European capital — now being courted for Cai Mep-Thi Vai. Duoc also praised the ambassador for visiting the Ho Chi Minh City Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin, a gesture noted during the reception.

Whether the Antwerp partnership matures into operational cooperation or remains a sister-city memorandum will depend on follow-through from both business delegations in the coming months.