Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s shipbuilding industry could emerge as a new growth pillar if developed as a comprehensive maritime industry ecosystem, with stronger supporting industries, technological self-reliance, modern logistics and deeper integration into global value chains, said insiders.
Shipbuilding is not merely a manufacturing sector but a foundational industry capable of generating broad spillover effects across the economy. Its development is closely linked with mechanical engineering, metallurgy, electronics, automation, information technology and maritime logistics.
Each shipbuilding order generates demand across an entire industrial ecosystem
Dr. Pham Hoai Chung, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Association (VISIA), underlined the right direction by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam, who requested positioning the national maritime industry appropriately in the strategy for developing Vietnam into a strong maritime nation.
He stressed that shipbuilding should be viewed as a foundational industry with significant spillover effects. Each shipbuilding order generates demand for production, supplies and services across a wider industrial ecosystem, including steel, mechanical engineering, electronics and automation, while creating substantial employment for skilled workers.
Investment in the shipbuilding industry should be viewed as a long-term national industrial development strategy. If developed in tandem with supporting industries, maritime logistics, science and technology, this industry can become a new growth engine and directly contribute to the realisation of the double-digit economic growth target in the coming period, Chung said.
He noted that the competitiveness of the shipbuilding industry cannot be separated from the development of supporting industries. Leading shipbuilding nations such as China, the Republic of Korea and Japan have built comprehensive maritime supporting-industry ecosystems and mastered core technologies, including high-quality shipbuilding steel, marine engines, control and automation systems, marine electronics and green-ship technologies.
“In modern shipbuilding, countries no longer compete simply by assembly capacity, but by the development of supporting industries and their mastery of core technologies across the maritime value chain,” Chung said.
This approach is also consistent with the Political Bureau’s Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW, which identifies science – technology development, innovation and national digital transformation as strategic breakthroughs for improving the economy’s productivity, growth quality, and competitiveness.
Opportunities for the shipbuilding industry
Tran Manh Ha, General Director of the Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (SBIC), said General Secretary and President Lam’s direction has opened up opportunities for the shipbuilding industry, maritime transport, maritime industry and related services.
SBIC’s shipbuilding and ship-repair enterprises are pushing ahead with restructuring and recovery efforts under the Government’s Resolution No. 220 while maintaining jobs and stable incomes for their employees and preserving their production foundations.
Many shipyards have orders secured through 2028 and even 2030. At the same time, they are working to improve quality, accelerate production, reduce costs and increase profit margins from new contracts, he added.
Stable employment has made SBIC’s subsidiaries increasingly attractive to workers. Recruitment has shown positive signs although the companies still have to provide more training for new recruits, Ha said, adding that they continue to train and develop managers and technicians to maintain a core workforce for the development of Vietnam’s shipbuilding industry.
With SBIC building and delivering various types of vessels to domestic and foreign shipowners, the industry can supply modern vehicles, helping reduce dependence on imported ships, cut operating costs, strengthen national transport capacity and improve the stability of logistics chains.
Ha Long Shipbuilding Company builds CSOV offshore wind service vessels, which require high standards throughout both shipbuilding and operation. (Photo: VietnamPlus)
Shipbuilding development will also lay a cornerstone for large-scale logistics and maritime industry centres to take shape. He said that a modern shipbuilding ecosystem encompasses not only shipyards but also seaports, supporting industrial parks, warehouses, maintenance and repair centres, technical services and maritime supply networks, helping improve links among production, transport and import-export activities and reduce intermediate logistics costs.
He believes that with favourable institutional conditions for international integration, stronger ship design and technology transfer, and participation in dual-use shipbuilding, Vietnamese shipbuilders could integrate rapidly into the global market and further establish their position among the world’s major shipbuilding nations./.
