However, judging from the current marine-based economy, Dr. Tran Dinh Thien, Deputy Head of the Vietnam Institute of Economics said that exploring and exploiting the marine-based economy still remains a practice of learning by trial and error.

Prof. Dr. Do Hoai Nam, Chairman of the Vietnam Institute of Science and Technology shared his view, “The psychology of developing agriculture on land has prevented the country from broadening its vision to the ocean to boost economic development.”

Despite being placed among the world’s 10 leading nations in seafood exports, the fishing community is still living in poverty. Around 14 percent of nearly 20 million people in 115 coastal districts who make their living from the sea are in difficult circumstances as six percent of them fall short of basic infrastructure facilities. In addition, approximately 157 coastal and island communes are also in the same predicament.

Ass. Prof Dr Nguyen Chu Hoi, Head of the Institute of Economics and Fisheries explained that due to poverty and outdated fishing equipment, fishermen find it difficult to develop the fisheries sector and escape from poverty.

The country now has nearly 100,000 fishing vessels and boats but 90 percent of them are out of date while 80 percent of the marine ecosystem is in great danger and under threat as a result of casual exploration. Only 25 percent of the coral ecosystem under sea is healthy and the rest is disappearing and unrecoverable, which will lead to the gradually exhaustion of fish stocks.

Dr. Pham Tien Long from the Vietnam Institute of Economics gave a bitter conclusion, “If you cut down a forest and don’t replant it, you lose a valuable source, and it’s the same in the sea. We simply can’t keep going on the same way we are without preserving the fishing grounds.”

When will the East Sea become “golden sea”?

When all countries have a marine strategy and enter a new period of rapid globalization, it is very important to expand economic development towards the sea.

With its special strategic position, Dr Tran Dinh Long said that the East Sea is a “golden sea” for the 21^st century. First is the traditional product from the sea – seafood. Every year, the country can earn US$5-6 billion from aquaculture, excluding traditional fishing. In addition to seafood, the sea contains many other sources, such as oil and gas, gold, salt, manganese and other ores.

Furthermore, maritime transport is another advantage the East Sea has as it is at the centre of the world’s strongest economic growth. It is estimated that around two-thirds of import-export goods in the world will be transported on Vietnamese sea routes over the next 5-10 years. The number of businesses and tourists traveling by area will also increase sharply.

Dr Tran Dinh Thien said that Vietnam has two important advantages: facing the East Sea and backing onto mountains but the country has not fully exploited the advantages. He added that the country has just paid attention to the small benefits, instead of taking advantage of it on a macro level.