With a total area of over 1 million sq.m and valuable natural resources and minerals, Vietnamese waters play an extremely important role in the cause of building and protecting the Fatherland.
Fully aware of this, over the past years, the Party and State have had many directions and policies to strengthen affairs related to order, security, safety, and the maintenance of sovereignty of the nation’s sea and islands to exploit marine resources.
It’s been more than 20 years since the establishment [of the Vietnam Coast Guard], and Vietnam’s actively been joining the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982. We (Vietnam) also issued an Ordinance on Vietnam Coast Guard forces.
However, in recent years, the security situation has become extremely complicated in the East Sea, especially developments related to the sovereignty of sea and islands, smuggling, pirates, and violation of territorial waters in seafood exploitation.
Furthermore, global integration trends also require us to have a basic act.
Faced with this situation, in 2019, the Law on Vietnam Coast Guard was born, creating a legal framework for law enforcement ofCoast Guard forces at sea. This contributed to managing and protecting sovereignty, sovereign rights, jurisdiction, and national security, besides ensuring order and safety in Vietnamese waters.
The Law on Vietnam Coast Guard includes eight chapters and 41 articles carrying many details, with a focus on a stipulation that the Vietnam Coast Guard is the people’s armed force and a specialized force of the State that is a core for law enforcement and protection of national security, order and safety at sea.
Vietnam Coast Guard has three groups of function, seven groups of tasks, and 10 powers. Besides, the law also stipulates the organization of Coast Guard forces, operation and operational regulations, assurance, mechanism and policies, State management, and responsibilities of ministries, ministry-level agencies, and local governments towards the Vietnam Coast Guard.
The Law on Vietnam Coast Guard being in place has met demand and missions for struggle at sea. However, the most important thing is to implement the law effectively in practice, so that all people and law enforcement forces of countries with adjacent waters act in accordance with the viewpoint of developing the economy in concert with performing foreign affairs and national defense missions for Fatherland protection.
With such determination, the Ministry of Defense has issued a circular to guide implementation of the law; organize nationwide training conferences on the Law on Vietnam Coast Guard; direct the whole army in general and Coast Guard forces, in particular, to build action plans and specific implementation schemes, in line with functions and tasks over every agency and unit.
Some highlighted activities include: organization of nationwide online contests on knowledge of Vietnam Coast Guard; organization of ‘action with fishermen’ programs; propaganda that provides countries in the world and the region with full and accurate understanding about the Law on Vietnam Coast Guard; and building images of a nation that loves peace and heads to building and preserving the sea in a stable, poised-for-integration and sustainably-developed manner./.
