Ha Noi, 12^th May 2022 – The Vietnam Administration of Seas and Islands, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) organized the Launch of the ‘Blue Economy Scenarios for Vietnam’ Report within the framework of the ‘International Conference on Sustainable Ocean Economy and Climate Change Adaptation.’

The blue economy is the development trend in the world, especially in countries having seas. This is one of the first studies in Viet Nam on marine economic development that uses the concept of the ‘blue economy’. The report introduces the ‘blue scenarios in marine economic development for Vietnam’ covering Viet Nam’s six key marine economic sectors i.e. fisheries, renewable energy, oil and gas, tourism, transport, environment and ecosystem.

Some scenarios to 2030 have been developed for each sector and aspect, including the business-as-usual and the ‘sustainable development’ or ‘blue’ scenarios, in line with and closely linked to the concept of green economy and blue economy.

The blue scenario brings outstanding benefits in terms of the GDP and GNI contribution of marine economic sectors and per capita income for marine workers. The study shows that with the blue scenario applied, the GDP of the blue scenario in 2025 and 2030 will be respectively VND296 trillion (USD12.9 billion) and VND538 trillion (USD23.5 billion) higher than the business-as-usual scenario.

At the Launch, Ms Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Resident Representative in Viet Nam Representative in Viet Nam highlighted "critical importance of accelerating marine spatial planning and policies to unlock the tremendous opportunities in the sustainable development of the marine economic sector. While the potential is huge for Vietnam’s fisheries and aquaculture, and marine renewable energy – especially offshore wind, biodiversity ecosystem services, and eco tourism – the key is to balance the growth of these closely linked sectors, as the development of one industry can have impacts on the others.”

Mr. Ta Dinh Thi, Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly Committee on Science, Technology and Environment, and former Director-General of the Vietnam Administration of Seas and Islands said, ‘The report suggests a number of important recommendations to promote the blue economy in Vietnam, contributing to the successful implementation of the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Vietnam's Marine Economy to 2030, with a vision to 2045, and the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG14 on the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources.’

Sector-based policy recommendations to achieve the blue scenario trajectory include:

Fisheries and aquaculture: reduce fisheries catch to Maximum Sustainable Yield (~2.7 million tons per year) through a 2% per year catch reduction, including reduction of near- and middle-shore vessels horsepower of 5% per year; maintain aquaculture area but implement technical; and management improvement leading to a secure productivity increases of 3.5% per year.

Oil and gas: promotion of energy saving within oil & gas production activities; enhanced protection of environment; and increased participating in the emerging marine renewable energy production.

Marine renewables: rapid expansion of marine renewables achieving towards 10,000 MW installed by 2030, including ~4,500 MW of near-shore wind (mainly Mekong delta) and 5,000 MW of offshore wind (mainly South-Central region).

Tourism: promote growth for international visitors of 8-10% per year and domestic tourists 5-6% per year to 2030; achieve 1.6 million tourist beds with 65% occupancy by 2030; embed climate change impacts, including sea level rise, in tourism planning.

Maritime transport: increase maritime transport to 20.6% or market share by 2030; increase volume of goods transported to 787 million tons; and expanded inland transport to 289 million tons.

For more information, please contact:

Phan Huong Giang
Media and Communications Analyst, Climate Change & Environment
United Nations Development Programme
Email: phan.huong.giang@undp.org; Mob: 0948466688

Hoang Thanh Vinh
Programme Analyst
United Nations Development Programme
Email: hoang.thanh.vinh@undp.org