A three-day maritime vent that opens in Ho Chi Minh City n February 25 is expected to provide a forum for local and foreign shipping businesses to discuss business partnerships and technology transfer.

Maritime Vietnam 2009 would showcase the latest innovations in hip-building, repair, shipping, offshore engineering and technology, orts and logistics, the Maritime Vietnam website said.

Around 350 companies in shipbuilding, oil and gas and port and logistics from some 20 countries and territories, including Singapore, Germany, the UK, South Korea and Norway, will participate.

A conference on shipping, ports and logistics and shipbuilding is also planned by the organizer, Chicago-based media agency Vero Public Relation.

The event will be held at the Saigon Exhibition & Convention Center in Phu My Hung.

Maritime Vietnam was first held in 2006, attracting more than 3,900 exhibitors and visitors from 30 countries.

In other shipping-related news, the Australia -based Strategic Marine Shipyard company will begin construction of a shipyard later this month in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.

It would cost hundreds of millions of dollars and employ more than 1,000 workers, Strategic Marine Vietnam said.