However, the coordination remains inadequate, according to a political report presented at the 11th National Party Congress. Therefore, the Communist Party of Vietnam worked out important directions to ensure both marine-based economic growth and national defence and security until 2020.

In the document of its 11^th National Congress, the Party focused on developing the marine economy to fully tap Vietnam’s potential.

Vietnam has a coastline of 3,260 km and sovereignty and jurisdiction over a total area of about 1 million square kilometres of the sea including internal waters, territorial waters, the contiguous zone, exclusive economic zones and its continental shelf. It has 3,000 islands of various sizes, 12 archipelagoes, as well as the Truong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelagos. All the sea and islands are in 125 coastal districts in 28 provinces, including 12 island districts.

Of the 1,656 km² of Vietnam’s islands and archipelagos, 66 islands are inhabited with a total population of more than 155,000 people. All the islands and archipelagoes are an inseparable part of the country that plays a very important role in national defence and construction.

Developing the marine-based economy

The Party and State have attached great importance to the sea and islands and are determined to turn Vietnam into a strong marine-based country, considering it a strategic target for national defence and construction.

In the 1990-1992 period, Vietnam launched an East Sea – Islands programme, followed by the Party Politburo’s policies on sea-based economic development and the struggle to protect the country’s sovereignty over the sea.

However, the exploitation and development of the marine-based economy has only just begun. Therefore, it is urgent that ministries and agencies are fully aware of the orientations for marine economic development as mentioned in the resolution of the 11^th National Party Congress.

In order to promote the marine-based economy, it is necessary to speed up urbanization to build strong marine-based economic centres in coastal regions and on important islands with potential in the population and resources, including infrastructure and technology to effectively exploit the natural resources.

It is also crucial to develop a network of economic and industrial zones as well as seaports, which will facilitate the sector through their infrastructure.

Vietnam should also place priority on developing ship-building, seafood processing and other marine-based services as they are considered potential and important motivation for the development of the sector.

Associating economic growth with protecting sovereignty

The document of the 11^th National Party Congress indicated that Vietnam should associate marine-based economic growth with the protecting the nation’s sea and island sovereignty.

Over the past year, Vietnam has built up a defence-security battle ground in the sea, promoted communication about the sea and islands’ value, established a National Steering Committee on the Sea and Islands, and issued various laws, ordinances, declarations, decrees, and decisions related to protecting its sovereignty over its sea and islands.

The country has also invested tens of thousands of billion dong to upgrade the infrastructure to deal with complications related to the sea and build dyke systems to prevent erosion on the islands and archipelagoes and ensure the living conditions of soldiers and people in Truong Sa island district.

In addition, Vietnam has also set up special forces to conduct the State management work in the sea including rescue forces, sea patrol ships, monitoring fishing, and customs forces. It has also built an observation and warning system, as well as lighthouses and set up local governments for island districts.

Regarding development, Vietnam has supported off-shore fishing by investing hundreds of billion dong in building seaports and service centres that support fishing on the islands and in coastal areas and to promote communication of the nation’s sovereignty and benefits from the sea and islands. Vietnam has nearly completed a dossier on the management and protection of its sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes.

A subcommittee was established to deal with defence and security issues in accordance to decree 119/CP and this has helped complete a mechanism to ensure defence and security in the sea and maintain the effectiveness of economic, defence, and security activities.

Accounting for three quarters of the country’s territory, the sea plays a crucial role in Vietnam’s sustainable development and contributes more and more to its GDP.

However, other regional countries’ policies on the sea have placed considerable pressure on Vietnam. Therefore the country’s strategy and urgent task is to associate developing its sea-based economy with ensuring defence and security.

Solutions suggested

In order to realize the Party’s resolution on the sea, Vietnam should focus on completing  its official national sea defence and security strategy and realizing the content of the strategy by creating plans and projects and issuing laws and policies and other legal documents.

The country should also promote education on defence and security, especially by integrating related content into training courses for various subjects and conducting more in-depth research about other countries’ strategies on the sea in order to protect its sovereignty over its sea and islands.

In addition, Vietnam should closely manage the completion and implemention of projects to develop its marine-based economy, in line with protecting the sea and island, and stepping up diplomatic negotiations to require concerned parties to strictly abide by the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea.