Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam Institute of Economics (VIE) on November16 held a webinar named “Blue economy: Opportunities, challenges and solutionsfor sustainable development”, aiming to seek ways to develop thesea-based economy, build the blue economy, and ensure harmony betweensocio-economic development and environmental protection.

In his opening remarks, Assoc. Prof., Dr. Bui Quang Tuan, VIEDirector, said that Vietnam has a favourable geographical position for the sea-based economy with morethan 3,260 km of coastline spanning 28 provinces and cities. Coastal provincesand cities contribute about 47-48 percent of the country's gross domesticproduct (GDP), of which the marine economic sectors contribute about 20-22percent of GDP.

However, the country’s sea-based economy still faces majorchallenges related to marine environment and resources, climate change, sealevel rise and livelihoods of local people, stated Tuan.

Assessing the current sustainable development status ofVietnam's coastal economic zones, Dr. Le Van Hung from the Institute forRegional Sustainable Development said that many coastal economic zones have not been able to create remarkable spillover effects as the quality of investment projects isstill low, and investment capital has so far focused on industries that use muchresources and energy such as petrochemical, steel, cement, and thermal power.

Talking about the marine environmental security in Vietnam,Dr. Ha Huy Ngoc from the Vietnam Institute of Economics said that the nation’smarine environment is under great pressure from domestic socio-economicdevelopment, international trade and cross-border impacts. Themain sources of waste causing environmental pollution and directly affectingpeople's health are 878 urban areas and 369 industrial zones, about two thirdsof which are located in coastal areas.

In order to develop based on the sea and benefit from thesea, Vietnam needs to balance the exploitation and preservation of the valuesthat the sea brings, and promptly address and prevent problems related tomarine environment security, Ngoc said.

According to the researcher, priority should be given to expanding the system of marineand island conservation zones to create long-term reserves, as well aspromoting international and regional cooperation to peacefully solve the risksof conflicts of interest from the sea.

At the webinar, experts proposed Vietnam develop andissue a governance framework to respond to environmental disasters, and promulgatespecific regulations to strengthen control over maritime and islandenvironmental pollution./.