Decision No. 647/QD-TTg 2020 Scheme of international cooperation on sustainable development of marine economy

DECISION

On approving Scheme of international cooperation on sustainable development of Vietnam s marine economy toward 2030

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THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Resolution No. 36-NQ/TW dated October 22, 2018 of the 8^thplenum of the 12^thCommunist Party of Vietnam Central Committee on the Strategy for the sustainable development of Viet Nam s marine economy by 2030, with a vision to 2045;

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated June 19, 2015;

Pursuant to the Law on Vietnamese Sea dated June 21, 2012;

Pursuant to the Law on Marine and Island Resources and Environment dated June 25, 2015;

Pursuant to the Government’s Resolution No. 26/NQ-CP dated March 05, 2020 on promulgating the master plan and the Government’s five-year plan to implement the Resolution No. 36-NQ/TW dated October 22, 2018 of the 8^thplenum of the 12^thCommunist Party of Vietnam Central Committee on the Strategy for the sustainable development of Vietnam s marine economy by 2030, with a vision to 2045;

Pursuant to the Government’s Resolution No. 01/NQ-CP dated January 01, 2019 on the key tasks and solutions to implement the socio-economic development plan and the state budget estimates in 2019;

At the proposal of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment,

DECIDES:

Article 1.To approve the Scheme of international cooperation on sustainable development of Vietnam s marine economy toward 2030 (hereinafter referred to as “the Scheme”) with the main contents as follows:

I. Viewpoints

1. International cooperation on sustainable development of the marine economy must ensure the consistent implementation of the external policy of independence, autonomy, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, diversification and multilateralization; ensure the legitimate rights and interests of the nation and people of Vietnam.

2. To proactively promote international cooperation to effectively mobilize and use force sources, knowledge, experience and make the most of the support of other countries, international organizations and partners for the sustainable development of marine economy in accordance with the requirements stated in the Resolution No. 36-NQ/TW dated October 22, 2018 on the Strategy for the sustainable development of Viet Nam s marine economy by 2030, with a vision to 2045 and the Government’s Resolution No. 26/NQ-CP dated March 05, 2020 on promulgating the master plan and the Government’s five-year plan to implement the Resolution No. 36-NQ/TW.

3. To resolutely and persistently fight for the protection of our country s sovereignty, the right of sovereignty and jurisdiction in the East Sea on the basis of the Law on Vietnamese Sea and international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

II. Objectives

To promote synchronization and focus of international cooperation activities on sustainable marine economic development in order to effectively mobilize and use the force sources, knowledge, experience and make the most of the support of other countries, international organizations and partners; contribute to successfully implement viewpoints, targets, major policies, breakthroughs and key solutions as prescribed in the Resolution No. 36-NQ/TW; actively contribute and take responsibility before the international community for the marine and ocean matters; to promote the role and position of Vietnam in the region and the international arena.

III. Tasks of international cooperation

1. Marine and ocean governance, coastal zone management

- To periodically review and assess mechanisms, policies and legal regulations on marine and islands in compliance with international standards and international treaties to which Vietnam is a party, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. To organize and implement mechanisms, policies and laws on marine and islands after being approved by the competent authorities.

- To promote the participation and formulation of cooperation mechanisms in regional and global governance with the large marine ecosystem and coast; integrated management of natural resources, protection of the marine environment; to formulate and implement the marine spatial planning and the overall planning on the exploitation and sustainable use of coastal resources.

- To develop a mechanism on cooperation and sharing information and data on the marine ecosystem at the regional and global levels. To study and develop an information network with multi-application at sea.

- To build capacity in an integrated and unified manner on marine and islands for state management agencies from the center to locality, ensure to meet the requirements of international integration.

2. Developing marine and the coastal economy

a) Regarding tourism and marine services

- To develop the infrastructure and technical facilities of the tourism industry for key areas and areas motivated to develop coastal and island tourism. To establish major coastal tourism centers.

- To develop cruise tourism and the system of international tourist ports, connecting with international tourist routes; to develop tourist routes to offshore islands and seas combined with other marine services.

- To make and deploy short term and long term plans on developing and investing to promote Vietnam and Vietnamese marine tourism to the world, focusing on promoting key markets on tourism.

b) Regarding maritime economy

- To develop the system of national marine ports, especially national deep water entrepot ports, specialized seaports associated with industrial complexes, petroleum, minerals, recycled energy, etc. To strengthen the specialized connection among large ports in the country with regional ports and international ports; to synchronously develop services supporting transportation, multi-modal transportation, especially improve the logistics service and effectively connect the transport infrastructure system.

- To develop the modern shipping fleet with a reasonable and safe structure, minimizing environmental pollution and saving energy.

- To providing training courses for officers, crew members and employees working in the marine field; to promote cooperation in searching export markets for crew members and marine officers.

- To build the capacity of marine safety, search and rescue on East sea.

- To implement marine agreements with other countries; enter into international and ASEAN agreements and protocols related to marine and agreements on recognizing maritime professional certificates with countries.

c) Regarding the exploration, exploitation of oil and gas, and other marine resources and minerals

- To build the leading and key infrastructure and industrial parks for the oil, gas and mineral operation chain; improve the capacity and competitiveness of oil and gas service provision, effectively conduct offshore oil and gas investment activities. To build the network system of undersea oil and gas pipeline to increase domestic connectivity, gradually connecting to the regional pipeline network, especially with countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

- To improve the capacity of searching and exploring mineral, oil, gas and non-traditional hydrocarbon forms in sedimentary basins in deep-water areas far from shore. - To develop and deploy international cooperation programs on investigating the deep-sea minerals in order to formulate the national plan on conservation and sustainable exploitation of the deep-sea mineral resources.

- To improve the efficiency of exploitation and increase the recovery coefficient of marine mineral resources associated with deep processing; combine exploitation and processing with environmental protection and conservation of marine biodiversity.

d) Regarding aquaculture and sustainable fishing

- To formulate the synchronous aquaculture infrastructure system, associated with supporting industries and fisheries logistics services, promoting the development, increase production effectiveness in the fields of aquaculture, fishing, seafood processing and consumption.

- To strengthen protection and regeneration of aquatic resources, especially rare and endangered aquatic species; research fishing grounds in service of the planning for the development of highly efficient and sustainable fishery industries; research into regional and world fisheries agreements.

- To research and apply scientific and technological advances in aquaculture and seafood processing; to develop marine and coastal aquaculture in the direction of commodity production, modernization and hi-tech application, suitable to environmental conditions and aquatic resources.

dd) Regarding coastal industry development

- To develop environmentally-friendly hi-tech coastal industries, platform industry and source technology.

- To reasonably develop shipbuilding and repair, petrochemical refining, energy, mechanical engineering, processing and supporting industries.

- To establish and develop models of coastal economic zones and eco-industrial parks in association with the formation and development of strong marine economic centers. Coastal economic zones and eco-industrial parks shall play a key role in regional development and inter-regional connection. To strengthen industry cohesion in developing and managing industries in coastal economic zones and industrial parks. To improve the institution for sustainable development in marine economy zones, giving priority to improving the legal framework, innovation and development of green growth models, environmental protection, improvement of productivity, quality and international competitiveness of coastal industry sectors.

e) Regarding recycled energy and new marine economic sectors

- To deploy programs investigating, researching, transferring, developing technology and developing typical sites using recycled energy; to cooperate with countries with potentials and strength in marine energy in researching, processing, applying and developing recycled energy at sea; to develop the equipment manufacturing industry in service of the recycled energy industry, proceed to master a number of technologies, equipment designing and manufacturing.

- To develop a number of new marine economic industries such as marine medicinal herbs, farming and processing of seaweed, algae and seagrass, etc.

g) Regarding the development of marine and coastal infrastructure

- To develop the marine infrastructure to meet the requirements of environmental protection, prevention and control of natural disasters and adaptation to climate change, sea-level rise. To develop the coastal airport systems and in some islands and archipelagos in the East Sea; to study and build the infrastructure to serve the management and exploitation of airspace and the system of international cooperation documents to ensure flight activities of Vietnam in island areas and archipelagos in the East Sea.

- To build the information and communication infrastructure in marine and coastal areas; develop post and telecommunications networks and services on islands and coastal areas.

3. To improve coastal inhabitants living standards, build maritime culture and society closely attached and friendly to the sea

- To build socio-economic infrastructure, especially electricity, freshwater, communications, health care and education on islands.

- To preserve and promote cultural, ecological and cultural values, cultural and architectural space and natural heritage in coastal areas and islands.

4. To basically investigate and research on marine science, technology and human resource development

- To deploy contents, tasks and requirements on international cooperation, ensuring the effective implementation of the key Program on basically investigating marine resources and environment toward 2030 approved by the Prime Minister in the Decision No. 28/QD-TTg dated January 07, 2020.

- To study and apply science achievements, advanced technology and promote the marine science technology research associated with a basic marine investigation; to coordinate with countries with strengths in marine science in cooperation and research to build centers of scientific and advanced technology research and application; to actively participate in international activities within the framework of the United Nations Decade on marine science for sustainable development in the 2021 - 2030 period.

- To provide training for high-quality marine human resource development, focusing on fields of the maritime economy, marine tourism, seafood and marine medicine; to formulate a mechanism to attract experts, scientists and high-quality employees in the country and the world; to provide re-training and new training courses, the formation of a contingent of experts, especially leading scientific experts and state management officials with high qualifications in marine resources and environment.

- To have policies to encourage and create favorable conditions for Vietnamese scientists to be members of international marine science technology organizations and editorial boards of international marine magazines.

5. To protect the marine environment, prevent a natural disaster, respond to climate changes and rising sea levels

- To upgrade the system of forecasting and warning of natural disasters, earthquakes and tsunamis, prevention and control of sea encroachment, coastal erosion, flooding, and saline intrusion; automatic observation, supervision and warning systems on environmental quality, response to environmental incidents and toxic chemicals at sea; invest, put into operation at least one specialized satellite, serving the monitoring of natural disasters, marine environment, climate change, and rising sea levels.

- To seriously implement regional and international treaties and agreements on sea and ocean to which Vietnam is a party; research to promote the participation in international treaties on the fields of natural resources management, environmental protection, marine scientific research; promote the formation of a regional and international cooperation framework on prevention, control and reduction of ocean plastic waste. To build and put into operation international center on ocean plastic waste in Vietnam. To strengthen the management of marine waste, especially ocean plastic waste; to improve and enhance the quality of the marine environment, focusing on the environment in inhabited urban areas, economic areas, industrial parks and coastal islands.

- To promote scientific survey and research in marine conservation zones, aquatic resource protection zones, coral reef ecosystems, seagrass beds, lagoons, tidal flats - estuaries, mangroves and protection forests in coastal areas, biodiversity conservation in marine areas outside the national jurisdiction.

- To plan and invest to build smart urban systems adapting to climate change, sea-level rise in coastal provinces, cities, economic zones, industrial parks, industrial clusters and suburban, ensuring sustainability, based on ecosystems, intelligently adapting to climate change, sea-level rise, having centralized wastewater treatment system, meeting environmental standards and regulations.

6. To ensure national defense, security, foreign relations and propaganda information

- To invest in modern equipment, human resource training, improve law enforcement effectiveness and enhance synergies and operations of forces participating in protecting marine sovereignty, islands and legitimate interests of the country, ensuring security, safety for the people and marine economic activities. To innovate training, learning and experience exchange in developed defense countries.

- To establishing, enforce and firmly defend our country s sovereignty, sovereignty and jurisdiction rights in the islands, archipelagos and in the waters of Vietnam.

- To strengthen trust and information exchange among countries on safety and security, border control, customs, fishing control, environmental protection, defense and law enforcement at sea.

- To proactively participate in proposing and implementing ideas to promote marine coordination in international and regional forums, especially within ASEAN and ASEAN-lead mechanisms and the Pacific.

- To coordinate with ASEAN countries and China to ensure the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), promote the early reaching of the code of conduct in the South China Sea in essence, validity and in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

- To proactively maintain and promote mechanisms for negotiation and dialogue to resolve maritime disputes with relevant countries, including maritime delimitation disputes, and create conditions for expanding maritime cooperation.

- To strengthen cooperation, active and effective participation at international and regional professional organizations in the sea to enhance their professional, scientific and technical capacity, and at the same time, protect the legal rights and interests at the sea of Vietnam.

- To grasp the situation, gather information, documents, report and advise the Party and State leaders; exchange with concerned ministries, branches and localities on guidelines, policies and solutions to improve the effectiveness of international cooperation on the sea, promote the application of advanced and modern science and technology in the world into sustainable development of the marine economy; introduce and support the selection of prestigious international scientists and partners to participate in international cooperation projects; mobilize and enlist the support of countries, international organizations and people in the sustainable development of Vietnam s marine economy.

- To expand and improve the efficiency of the international cooperation "channels" of the police force, to coordinate in effectively handling issues, incidents and complicated security and order at sea; promote the solving of non-traditional security challenges from the sea; protect Vietnam s fishing grounds, fishing boats, fishermen and marine economic activities.

- To cooperate in improving the capacity to prevent and combat terrorism, drugs, smuggling, human trafficking by sea, armed robbery, environmental crimes, etc. on sea routes; improve capacity to prevent and mitigate natural disasters, rescue and response to climate change and sea-level rise.

- To prevent and control activities of collecting state secrets in the process of international cooperation on the sea; strictly organize the implementation of regulations and processes on the evaluation of security and order factors for investment schemes and projects, and cooperate with foreign countries in the sustainable development of the marine economy.

- To disseminate widely to the region and the world the undertakings, guidelines, policies and laws of the Party and State on the sea and international cooperation on the sea; Strategy for sustainable development of Vietnam s marine economy; International Conventions and Laws on the Sea; broadly promote the potential and strengths of Vietnam s sea. To timely and fully provide information and preferential policies, attract investment and promote international cooperation on the Vietnam Sea. To reflect international cooperation activities on the sea in order to maintain a peaceful, stable environment, protect the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, firmly protect borders and sovereignty of seas, islands and the skies of the Fatherland.

IV. Solutions

1. To promote propaganda, raise awareness about international cooperation for the sustainable development of the marine economy, create consensus in the whole society. To improve the efficiency and diversify the forms and contents of dissemination of the Party’s line and the State’s policies and laws on the sea and islands, the Vietnam Sea Economic Sustainable Development Strategy, the Strategy of foreign information on the international arena and with overseas Vietnamese.

To diversify types and ways of information dissemination on the sea and international cooperation on the sea; build appropriate and effective information pages and categories, contribute to raising awareness and creating consensus in both the political system and the entire population on cooperation for sustainable development of the marine economy; promote information and communication on the sea and international cooperation, sustainable development of the marine economy.

2. To review and improve the system of the institutional system, policies and legal framework on the sea towards promoting sustainable development, ensuring feasibility, consistency, and alignment with international treaties and legal standards to which Viet Nam is a party. To actively participate in international treaties and promote the formation of global and regional cooperation mechanisms related to the sea and the ocean.

3. To diversify channels and forms of cooperation, Party foreign affairs, State diplomacy, Foreign affairs of the People in the field of sea and islands. To strengthen coordination between agencies, between levels and branches, between bilateral diplomacy and multilateral diplomacy. To proactively and actively host international forums, conferences and seminars on sustainable marine economic development.

4. To give priority to cooperate with countries and partners with a modern and advanced economy and marine technology in the world. To closely coordinate with international, regional and relevant organizations, especially developed countries with experience in marine management, to take advantage of technical and technological support and discuss information and experience; proactively propose and access international projects and funding for development investment, improve management capacity for professional staff, as well as raise awareness of coastal communities.

5. To allocate reasonable funding to carry out international cooperation activities on sustainable marine economic development.

6. To consolidate the apparatus for international cooperation on the sea in marine ministries, branches and localities; to train and improve the capacity of international maritime cooperation officials of agencies, attaching importance to building a contingent of international experts on sea negotiation. To arrange diplomatic titles and international cooperation on the sea at a number of Vietnamese embassies in important countries and international organizations.

7. Based on the cooperation results, to promptly detect, adjust and supplement projects, schemes and tasks in compliance with the actual situation in order to meet the provided targets and tasks.

V. List of priority tasks and projects

A list of priority tasks and projects are specified in the Appendix attached herewith.

Article 2. Organization of implementation

1. The National steering committee for implementing the Strategy for the sustainable development of Vietnam s marine economy by 2030, with a vision to 2045 shall direct and organize the implementation of the international cooperation Scheme on sustainable development of Vietnam s marine economy toward 2030. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall be the standing agency of the Committee, responsible for guiding, monitoring, urging, summing up the situation and periodically organizing preliminary and final reviews of the implementation of the Scheme. The Vietnam Administration of Seas and Islands shall be the focal point assisting the implementation of the above-mentioned task.

2. The Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance shall, based on the proposals of ministries and relevant agencies and localities, provide guidance and submit the competent authority to allocate funding for implementing the Scheme as prescribed.

3. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall assume the prime responsibility in performing tasks and projects on the border and national-territorial affairs at sea, foreign information work, strategic forecasts of international issues related to development policies of Vietnam s maritime economy, promoting Vietnam s participation in international forums related to the sustainable development of the marine economy.

4. The Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security shall, based on their functions and tasks, assume the prime responsibility for performing tasks and projects in the field of defense and security; handling situations, maintaining independence, sovereignty, sovereignty and jurisdiction rights and national interest at sea; resolutely and consistently build and maintain a peaceful, stable and legal order environment, creating favorable conditions for sustainable development of the marine economy; struggle with all plots and activities to take advantage of issues on the sea and islands to oppose the Party, the State and the People.

5. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies, People s Committees of coastal provinces and centrally-run cities and related economic corporations shall formulate and deploy the Plan on international cooperation on sustainable development of the marine economy of their agencies and branches to implement the Scheme, take responsibilities for periodically reporting, evaluating the international cooperation on sustainable development of the marine economy of their ministries and branches and send to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for summarization; actively arrange force sources to implement projects and tasks of the Scheme.

Article 3. Effect and implementation responsibilities

1. This Decision takes effect on the date of its signing.

2. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, and Chairpersons of People s Committees of coastal provinces and centrally-run cities shall be responsible for the implementation of this Decision./.

* All Appendices are not translated herein.