Viet Nam has nearly 1km of coastline per 100 square kilometers of its territory, 6 times higher than the global average. This is a leading indicator in the world, contributing to affirming that Viet Nam is really a country with huge potential and advantages from the sea.

Marine economic sectors are expected to contribute
about 10% of Viet Nam’s gross domestic product

 Major policies

The sea is the cradle of life and a very important factor to ensure the sustainability of the socio-economic development process. The awareness of the sea and sustainable maritime economic development around the world has become clearer and clearer with many positive changes over time.

The maritime strategies of many countries have emphasized the important connotation of developing the marine economy and maritime governance institutions.

Today, the sea and the marine economy have played an increasingly crucial role in national socio-economic development, as well as in the issue of national security.

The Vietnamese Party and State have put forward a number of development strategies, policies and plans. On February 9, 2007, during its fourth plenum, the 10th Party Central Committee adopted the Resolution No. 09-NQ/TW on the Viet Nam Maritime Strategy until 2020, with the ultimate goal of striving to develop Viet Nam into a strong maritime country which prospers from the sea and firmly safeguard the national sea and island sovereignty, contributing significantly to the cause of national industrialization and modernization.

After more than 10 years of implementing the Resolution 09, the 8th plenum of the 12th Party Central Committee (October 2018) comprehensively reviewed the execution of the maritime strategy and announced a new resolution on the sea – Resolution No. 36/NQ-TW on the strategy for the sustainable development of Viet Nam’s marine economy until 2030, with a vision until 2045.

This is a major guideline, demonstrating Viet Nam’s long-term vision in the rational exploitation of resources from the sea to serve the rapid and sustainable development of the country. A number of new viewpoints and issues are raised in the strategy, especially an overall and long-term stance of the sea.

Accordingly, maritime economic development must be observed in three dimensions: the sea surface, the sea floor and the space above the sea.

It is necessary to not only reach out to the ocean, but also to pay special attention to coastal management, because after all, all the maritime activities stem from the coast and the coast of Viet Nam needs to be used to effectively facilitate the sea-oriented policy.

Developing green marine economy

The strategy for the sustainable development of Viet Nam’s marine economy until 2030, with a vision to 2045, has set the specific goals of making Viet Nam a strong maritime nation by 2030, basically meeting the criteria on sustainable marine economic development, proactively adapting to climate change and sea level rise, preventing the trends of marine environmental pollution and degradation, coastal erosion and saltwater intrusion, and restoring and preserving important marine ecosystems.

Besides, the pure marine economic sectors are expected to contribute about 10% of Viet Nam’s gross domestic product, while the economy of 28 coastal provinces and cities is estimated to account for 65-70% of the national GDP.

In coastal provinces and cities, human development index is higher than the national average and the average income per capita is 1.2 times or more compared to the average income of the whole country./.