HAI PHONG CITY, Vietnam

One of three largest cities in Vietnam after Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong is situated 102 km east of Hanoi and 20km from the sea. It was officially founded in 1888. The city lies on the bank of the Cam River and is a major international seaport of the North. It was already a commercial port some centuries ago when merchants from China, Japan, France, Spain and Portugal came to trade.

Hai Phong enjoys an excellent position. A railway joins it with the country's capital and puts it in direct communication with the large mountainous region of Viet Bac and southwestern China (Yunnan and Guangxi). Other land roads ensure communication between Hai Phong and Hon Gai - Cam Pha, Vietnam's foremost coal mining area, and with Ha Long Bay, a famous tourist spot of Vietnam. Through Hai Phong, contact is established with other ports of the country and with foreign countries.

Hai Phong is also an industrial town. After 1955, former industrial establishments soon resumed normal activities. New factories were set up. The most important among them are the Cement Plant, the Mechanical Engineering Factories of Duyen Hai and Ha Long, the Bach Dang Shipyard, the Woolen Carpet Factory Hang Kenh, the glass works and, especially, the Fish-canning Factory with its associated fishing fleet.

Nowadays, Hai Phong is joining the whole country in the of renovation, speeding up the implementation of its own economic to build export processing and industrial zones to develop the city's local industries.