Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Minister of NaturalResources and Environment Tran Quy Kien has stressed the need to continuereviewing, evaluating and improving policies, regulations, strategies andplanning schemes involving the management of natural resources and protectionof marine environment.

There must be special attention paid to formulating legaldocuments on this matter, said Kien at a conference in Hanoi on July 11 to reviewthe performance of the Vietnam Administration of Seas and Island (VASI) in thefirst half of 2018.

Speaking at the event, VASI Director General Ta Dinh Thisaid from January – June, the VASI directed its member units to promptly buildlegal documents and planning schemes on use of marine resources; andsuccessfully hosted the Vietnam Sea and Islands Week 2018 to celebrate theWorld Ocean Day across the country as well as three events on the sidelines ofthe 6th Global Environment Facility (GEF) Assembly in the centralcity of Da Nang last month.

The VASI has also kept a close watch on the news andpublic opinion about marine environment to produce timely responses to theissues. It has urgently proposed solutions to a number of incidents earlier this year such as seawater becoming back with brown foam and a foul smell along the Nguyen Tat Thanhbeach in Da Nang, coastal erosion threatening Ham Tien – Mui Ne resort complexin Binh Thuan and rubbish flooding coastal protective forest in Hau Loc, ThanhHoa, he reported.

In the final months of this year, the VASI plans tocollect public feedback to complete sea and islands-related legal documents andsubmit them to competent authorities for review on schedule while cooperatingwith the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) and the VietnamCoastal Guard in supervising and inspecting the observance of regulationsrelated to marine resources management and marine environment protection, henoted.

It will also focus on making marine space planning anddeveloping a master plan on how to use marine resources sustainably, thedirector general added.

The potential resources in Vietnam’s seashore, whichstretches more than 3,260 km, are believed to be significant, playing animportant role in the national development.

About 35 minerals with varying reserves, including fuel,metals, construction materials, precious and semi-precious gemstones, andliquid minerals have been discovered in the country’s coastal areas.

These areas also contain mineral sands and heavy minerals with rare elementslike titanium (which has an annual output of 220,000 tonnes), zirconium andcerium (1,500 tonnes a year), and 60,000 hectares of salt fields.

The country’s coastal zones are home to more than 20ecosystems of which submerged forests, coral reefs and sea-grass beds are mosttypical.

Among more than 125 beaches of all sizes, 20 beaches areinternationally qualified for sea tourism. The tourism industry attracts nearly15 million visitors to the country every year, including 3 million foreigners,posting an average annual growth rate of 13 percent.

While about 80 percent of Vietnam’s annual fish haul comes from inshore shallowwaters, some 90 percent of shrimp output is farmed in the coastal brackishwater areas, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The scale of Vietnam’s sea-based and coastal economy between 2000 and 2005 isestimated at 30 percent of GDP. Economic sectors that directly relate to theexploitation of marine resources such as shipbuilding and repair, oil and gasprocessing, aquatic product processing, and communications have made substantialprogress.

However, strong socio-economic development in coastalareas has been putting pressure on marine ecosystem conservation with developmentactivities out of control of the local communities. Therefore, it is a must tosoon have synchronous policies for the management of the country’s coastal areas.-VNA