WB-funded project benefits central coastal provinces
Phu Yen (VNA) – Dozens
of thousands of farmers and fishermen in nine central coastal provinces have
benefited from the Coastal Resources for Sustainable
Development (CRSD) Project
funded by the World Bank (WB) in the past years.
The project, which began in 2012, includes four
components: strengthening institutional capability for sustainable fishing
management, practising sustainable fish farming, sustainably managing coastal seafood
exploitation and project management.
Until now, the project has supported the establishment
of 50 GAP zones over an area of 11,000 hectares with the participation of nearly
8,700 households, 32 areas of farming various species with 2,500 households.
The project has also provided training for 19,708
farmers and supported the establishment of 97 co-management teams in eight central
provinces involving 13,812 fishermen. They manage 803 kilometres of seashore.
Binh Dinh and Phu Yen provinces have approved coastal
areas managed by local communities with an area of nearly 83,000 hectares.
Besides, 20 fishing ports have been upgraded, with six already completed and
put into use.
At a conference held by the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Tuy Hoa city, Phu Yen province
on March 13 to implement the project’s 2017 plan, Le
Van Hien, head of the Management Board of Agricultural Projects under the
ministry, stressed that the project has contributed to the sustainable
development of the seafood sector in targeted localities.
However, many components of the project have not yet been
done or implemented slowly, leading to the slow disbursement, which is only
53.7 percent or nearly 1.145 trillion VND (51.3 million USD).
The remaining 990 billion VND (44.4 million USD) needs
to be disbursed as the project will finish in one year.
Hien recommended beneficiary localities focus on updating
Vietnam’s fishing sector data, implementing policy studies and upgrading
infrastructure for GAP zones.
Pham Ngoc Sao, Director of the CRSD Project, suggested
the Directorate of Fisheries soon support the project in building a united
management mechanism to manage and use fishing ports effectively.-VNA