The US is providing $12.5 million to Vietnam to better enable that country to beef up its maritime law enforcement and combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
The funding was announced by Marc Knapper, the US ambassador to Vietnam, during a meeting held earlier this month with Phung Duc Tien, agriculture and rural development minister at Vietnam's Department of Fisheries (DFRIES) surveillance training facility in Phu Quoc.
The funding comes from the US Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs and will support three maritime law enforcement agencies in Vietnam: DFRIES, the Ministry of Public Security and Vietnam Customs.
The United States supports a free and open Indo-Pacific and a strong, prosperous, independent and resilient Vietnam, the US Embassy says in a statement.
"These new foreign assistance programs are just some of the many ways in which the United States and Vietnam are deepening cooperation on maritime law enforcement and maritime security capacity under the US-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and demonstrating how the two governments are working together to address shared regional and global challenges," the Embassy statement read.
Recall that the European Commission (EC) issued a "yellow card" warning to Vietnam in 2017, charging that the country was not doing enough to fight illegal fishing, as reported by Undercurrent News. It offered the possibility for Vietnam to take measures to rectify the situation within a reasonable timeframe.
Since then, Vietnam has made significant efforts to gradually meet the requirements made by the EC, reported news agency Vietnam Plus in August 2024.
"The system for fisheries monitoring has been reorganized, with 28 coastal provinces now having fisheries control forces. A Supreme People's Court resolution criminalizing IUU-related offenses has taken effect," rural development minister Le Minh Hoan was quoted by Vietnam Plus.
Comments (0)
To view or post comments, simply
Already registered? Log in here:
Enter the email address associated with your account. We'll send you instructions to reset your password.
We’ve sent a link to to change your password.
Please check your inbox to reset your password securely and easily.