Maersk and Hateco Sign Agreement for Freight Rail Network in Vietnam

A.P. Moller-Maersk, through its unit APM Terminals, and Vietnamese conglomerate Hateco signed a memorandum of understanding in Copenhagen to develop a freight rail terminal network in northern Vietnam. The agreement was finalized during the official visit of Vietnamese President To Lam to Denmark and provides for a rail terminal in Haiphong along with three additional container facilities, with total investment estimated at up to US$3.5 billion, according to a Hateco statement.

After the figure of US$3.5 billion, attributed to the Vietnamese government as a preliminary investment estimate for the project, was released, Maersk later clarified that the range of between US$2.5 billion and US$3.5 billion corresponds to the total combined investments of the two companies in Vietnam, and not exclusively to the cost of the freight rail network.

The project aims to connect industrial parks, logistics hubs and production zones with major transport nodes, integrating rail transport with the country's port infrastructure. The facilities will use digital systems for cargo management, receiving and storage, with the goal of easing road congestion and expanding options for cross-border shipments. According to the Journal of Commerce, discussions focused on developing the rail depot network along the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Haiphong corridor to strengthen multimodal connectivity between regional logistics hubs, the national rail system and the deep-water port of Haiphong.

The agreement expands an existing infrastructure partnership between APM Terminals and Hateco, which includes a US$400 million container port project in Haiphong. The two companies opened the Hateco Hai Phong International Container Terminal (HHIT) in 2025, a deep-water facility at Lach Huyen with two berths capable of handling vessels of up to 18,000 TEU, in which APM Terminals holds a minority 49% stake. The partnership also extended to Da Nang, where a consortium made up of Hateco and APM Terminals secured the development of the Lien Chieu container port in 2026, which envisions eight deep-water berths and a final annual capacity of more than 5.7 million TEU.

The rail project is part of Vietnam's push to boost infrastructure investment to sustain its multi-year double-digit economic growth target, with railways identified as a key priority for attracting private capital. During his stay in Copenhagen, President To Lam also met with executives from companies such as Lego Group, Carlsberg and Pandora, and was set to travel on to Brussels for talks with European Union officials on trade, energy and education.