Ocean accounts needed to serve sustainable maritime economic development in Vietnam

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – The Institute of Strategy and Policy on National Resources and Environment (ISPONRE) under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment held a consultation conference on building ocean accounts in Vietnam.

Ocean accounts are integrated records of regularly compiled and comparable data concerning ocean environment conditions (for example the extent/condition of mangroves), economic activity (e.g., sale of fish) and social conditions (e.g., coastal employment). They are based on the System of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEEA) and System of National Accounts (SNA), thereby maintaining a similar structure as existing national accounts maintained by National Statistical Offices or Finance Ministries. 

Vietnamese fishing vessels (Photo: VNA)

ISPONRE deputy head Nguyen Trung Thang said that oceans are an important source of livelihoods and nutrients that contribute to economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region. Healthy coastal and marine ecosystems contribute to comprehensive development, and help regulate the climate and improve people's lives, towards a sustainable future. 

However, the management of ocean-related information still faces many difficulties and challenges, as ocean data are being arranged by many different organisations, so it is difficult to integrate them. As a result, it is difficult to make accurate estimates on the total contribution of fisheries to the economy as well as the maximum sustainable yield, he added.

According to him, Vietnam has great potential for developing the blue economy with more than 3,260 km of coastline and thousands of islands which have more than 20 typical types of ecosystems and are home to about 11,000 kinds of marine creatures. Therefore, the application of ocean accounts will assist in the policy making process related to Vietnam's blue sea economy./.

VNA