Major contents of the CPV Central Committee's Resolution on building and developing Viet Nam into strong maritime nation

 Below are major contents of the Resolution for reference:

VIEWPOINTS

1. Viet Nam's sea and islands are inextricably linked to the sacred sovereignty of the Fatherland, the nation's space for survival and development, a gateway for international exchange, and a vital foundation of national comprehensive power. Building and developing Viet Nam into a strong maritime nation is a long-term national development strategy, closely intertwined with the cause of national construction and defense. All national development master plans, strategies, and programs for national development must serve the imperatives of safeguarding national sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction; enhancing defense capabilities and protecting national interests at sea; and maintaining a peaceful and stable environment. Viet Nam must possess a modern maritime governance system, an efficiently developed marine economy, advanced marine science and technology, a sustainable marine environment, a rich maritime culture, prosperous coastal and island communities, firmly secured maritime defense and security, substantive and effective international integration, and an increasingly elevated international standing and prestige.

2. A decisive shift in mindset is required: from marine exploitation to modern maritime governance; from coastal economic development to developing a strong maritime nation; and from sector-based management to integrated and unified governance of the national maritime space. Perfecting institutional frameworks to develop a strong maritime nation constitutes a strategic breakthrough; unleashing all resources, unlocking the potential and advantages of sea and islands; establishing growth poles, economic hubs, and maritime economic corridors; and connecting the mainland, sea, islands, and new development spaces. Comprehensively developing Vietnamese maritime culture into a spiritual foundation, an endogenous resource, and a soft power of a maritime nation; strongly inspiring patriotism, the sense of ownership, the aspiration to reach out to the open sea, and the responsibility to protect maritime and island sovereignty.

3. Science, technology, innovation, digital transformation, and high-quality human resources serve as the primary drivers for developing a strong maritime nation, with a focus on mastering marine knowledge, data, and technologies.

Accelerating fundamental surveys and scientific research, and mastering marine and ocean technologies. Robustly developing modern, green, digital, and circular maritime sectors and domains, enhancing maritime governance capacity, national competitiveness, and Vietnam's international standing.

4. Efficiently and sustainably exploiting and utilizing marine resources in tandem with environmental protection and marine ecosystem conservation toward a green and smart direction; resolutely refusing to trade the environment for pure economic growth.

Drastically reducing unsustainable exploitation activities that cause resource degradation and environmental pollution; enhancing biodiversity protection, expanding and effectively managing marine protected areas (MPAs) tied to sustainable livelihoods for local populations.

Proactively responding to climate change and ocean dynamics; improving resilience, disaster prevention, mitigation, and risk reduction capabilities; ensuring the long-term preservation of strategic values and benefits from the sea for present and future generations.

5. Building and developing Viet Nam into a strong maritime nation is a strategic task of the entire Party, people, armed forces, and political system; it is the right, responsibility, and duty of every organization, enterprise, and citizen, under the comprehensive leadership of the Party, the unified management and administration of the State, and the active, responsible participation of societal stakeholders.

Strongly promoting patriotism, self-reliance, self-resilience, and the aspiration to reach out to the open sea; upholding the central role of citizens and enterprises in marine economic development, in close association with firmly safeguarding maritime and island sovereignty.

OBJECTIVES

1. Objectives through 2030

General Objectives:

Building a solid foundation for Viet Nam to become a strong maritime nation. Establishing a modern, unified, and synchronized national maritime governance system based on science, technology, and digital data; efficiently and sustainably managing, exploiting, and utilizing marine resources and spaces; step-by-step mastering high seas, deep seas, and new maritime development spaces; protecting the environment, and conserving and restoring marine ecosystems.

Developing a modern marine economy with high competitiveness. Elevating the living standards of coastal and island residents; preserving and promoting maritime culture.

Firmly maintaining national defense, security, sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction at sea; enhancing Viet Nam's standing, prestige, and role globally.

Specific Objectives:

Economy: The combined GRDP of coastal provinces and centrally-run cities shall contribute over 70 percent of the national GDP. Per capita income in coastal localities shall be 1.2 to 1.3 times higher than the national average. Average GRDP growth rate of coastal localities shall be over 11 percent per annum.

Developing offshore wind energy projects with a total capacity of 6–10 GW. The market share of import-export cargo transport handled by Viet Nam's merchant fleet shall reach 20 percent; logistics costs shall be reduced to below 12 percent of GDP. Average annual growth rate of total revenue from marine and island tourism shall reach 14 percent. The production value of marine aquaculture shall grow by an average of 8 percent per annum, accounting for 15 percent of the total fisheries production value.

Spatial Development and Infrastructure: Establishing 5–6 strong marine economic hubs. Forming 3 special economic zones. Completing 100 percent of planned coastal roads; ensuring 100 percent of strategic islands are fundamentally equipped with synchronized essential infrastructure.

Science, technology, innovation and digital transformation: Forming 2–3 research institutions for marine science, technology, and innovation leading the ASEAN region. Possessing 1–2 dual-use deep-sea research vessels. Completing the national marine database system. Achieving 100 percent digitization, integration, and sharing rate of marine resource, environmental, infrastructure, and activity data within state management systems.

Spatial governance, environmental protection and sustainable development: Completing 100 percent of marine functional zonation for sectors, fields, and localities. The coverage of marine and coastal protected areas shall reach at least 6 percent of the total national maritime area. Ensuring 100 percent of coastal plastic waste is collected and treated. Guaranteeing 100 percent of key inhabited islands possess solid waste and wastewater treatment systems.

Culture and Society: Digitizing 100 percent of maritime cultural heritage. Achieving a Human Development Index (HDI) higher than the national average. The proportion of trained labor with diplomas, certificates, and skills in maritime industries shall exceed 45 percent. Ensuring 100 percent of coastal and island residents have access to electricity, clean water, broadband Internet, healthcare, and education services.

Defense, security & foreign affairs: Firmly safeguarding national sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction at sea. Ensuring comprehensive security for the people and lawful activities at sea. Guaranteeing security and safety for 100 percent of key projects and critical offshore installations; 100 percent of coastal localities and islands shall formulate and implement response plans for marine environmental incidents, natural disasters, sea level rise, and non-traditional security challenges. Intensifying foreign affairs and international maritime cooperation, elevating Viet Nam's role and standing in global marine and ocean governance mechanisms.

2. Vision through 2045

Viet Nam will strive to become a strong and prosperous maritime nation, featuring modern maritime governance and advanced marine science and technology. The material and spiritual well-being of coastal and island residents shall be comprehensively improved; maritime culture shall be conserved and promoted. Defense, security, sovereignty, sovereign rights, and national jurisdiction at sea shall be firmly maintained; playing an important role in global marine and ocean governance.

TASKS AND SOLUTIONS

1. Strengthening Party leadership, innovating mindsets, raising awareness, and improving the effectiveness and efficiency of national maritime governance

Enhancing Party leadership and drastically innovating perception, mindset, and vision regarding the development of strong maritime nation; improving the effectiveness of communications and external information work on sea and islands; further leveraging the role of media outlets and social networks. Developing Viet Nam into a strong maritime nation is a long-term strategy. Decisively shifting from the mindset of mere resource exploitation and marine economic growth to comprehensive governance of national maritime space. Reaffirming the sea as a strategic development space, a new growth driver, and a convergence of economic, defense, security, scientific, technological, foreign policy, and international integration interests.

Raising the efficacy and efficiency of state management over the sea. Transitioning firmly from sector-based management to a modern, integrated, and unified governance model of national maritime space based on digital data and marine spatial planning. Synchronously governing the marine space, seabed, subsoil, islands, coastal areas, and airspace over the sea; ensuring effective inter-sectoral, inter-field, and inter-provincial linkage and coordination; harmonizing relations between development and conservation, national and local interests, and economic development with defense, security, and foreign affairs. Enhancing capabilities in strategic forecasting, risk governance, and policy formulation; expanding national development space into far seas, deep seas, and new maritime domains; proactively participating in and elevating Viet Nam's role in regional and global ocean governance mechanisms. Expeditiously streamlining and comprehensively innovating the inter-agency coordination mechanism for sea and oceans toward a unified, centralized, synchronized, and effective structure. The Government shall exercise unified management, assigning a primary agency to coordinate maritime activities while clearly defining functions, duties, authority, and responsibilities of relevant agencies and organizations.

Promoting the proactive, creative role of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front, socio-political organizations, the business community, and the public in social supervision, feedback, and participation in formulating and enforcing laws and policies on the sea; leveraging national unity and mobilizing the combined strength of the political system and society in building a strong maritime nation.

2. Perfecting legal frameworks, innovating national marine spatial planning, and creating breakthroughs for strong maritime nation development

Innovating national marine spatial governance is a core, breakthrough element in perfecting institutions for strong maritime nation development. Promptly reviewing and refining the legal system on sea, islands, and related sectors, ensuring consistency, synchronization, transparency, stability, feasibility, and international competitiveness; removing bottlenecks, overlaps, and conflicts; unlocking and mobilizing all resources effectively, maximizing potential and advantages; proactively identifying, forecasting, and catching up with development trends and emerging maritime fields. Enhancing the efficacy of maritime law enforcement, linking enforcement agencies' responsibilities directly to operational results.

Perfecting legislation on marine and island resources and environment, establishing modern, integrated, and unified spatial governance principles to meet sustainable ocean development requirements. Refining mechanisms for allocation, lease, auction, registration, and certification of marine spatial use rights; clearly defining rights, responsibilities, and obligations of entities operating in maritime spaces, including rights to transfer, mortgage, contribute capital, and sublease; ensuring sustainable exploitation in association with ecosystem and biodiversity conservation and restoration. Finalizing preferential mechanisms and policies to develop infrastructure and emerging and key maritime sectors. Strengthening inspection, monitoring, risk prevention, and response, strictly controlling activities that negatively impact or cause pollution and degradation to the marine environment.

Promptly reviewing, updating, and adjusting the National Marine Spatial Planning for the 2021–2030 period, with a vision to 2050, ensuring alignment between land, sea, airspace, and new development spaces; shaping multi-tiered, multi-sectoral development spaces for key regions and maritime domains. Technical guidelines and regulations on functional zonation and spatial utilization shall be completed, ensuring national marine spatial planning serves as an integrated management tool binding upon all sectoral, regional, and coastal provincial master plans; serving as the basis for resource allocation, marine space assignment/lease, and conflict resolution to avoid overlaps. Land reclamation activities shall be conducted based on planning, balancing socio-economic growth, defense, security, environmental protection, marine ecosystems, and climate change response. Prioritizing synchronized, modern planning for islands and coastal areas to ensure sustainable development in association with defense, security, and climate resilience. Formulating and implementing special mechanisms for economic development combined with defense and security tasks on outpost islands and special zones. Expediting the establishment of criteria to evaluate and measure indicators and objectives for building a strong maritime nation.

3. Mobilizing, leveraging, and efficiently utilizing resources; robustly developing maritime enterprises, especially large-scale corporations

Refining mechanisms to mobilize, allocate, and utilize resources for the development of strong maritime nation; diversifying capital mobilization channels, promoting green finance; prioritizing resources for key sectors, regions, and high-spillover projects; resolving bottlenecks regarding land, credit, marine space, and other resources. Prioritizing investment in defense-economic zones at sea and in coastal areas. Mobilizing resources for research and development, technology acquisition, mastery, and transfer in defense and security industries to safeguard sovereignty alongside economic development. Implementing substantive risk-sharing mechanisms between the State and enterprises.

Strongly developing leading maritime enterprises; encouraging private and collective economic sectors to form large-scale state-owned and private corporations with international competitiveness in key maritime industries. Establishing state commissioning and task-assignment mechanisms for qualified domestic enterprises to undertake key scientific research, fundamental surveys, resource exploration, and the development of emerging marine sectors. Fostering linkages between domestic firms and multinational corporations to integrate deeply into global ocean value chains.

4. Developing science, technology, innovation, digital transformation, and high-quality human resources

Increasing investment in marine science, technology, and innovation; developing regionally leading research and application organizations for marine and deep-sea technologies; establishing a national marine innovation ecosystem linking enterprises, institutes, universities, and innovation hubs. Deploying controlled testing mechanisms (sandboxes) for novel marine technologies, models, and sectors.

Focusing on researching and applying marine science and technology. Comprehensively reviewing and evaluating the current status of oceanographic institutes, universities, research centers, and training facilities; defining demands, objectives, and roadmaps through 2045 to master modern marine science, technology, and governance. Prioritizing resources to build, integrate, and exploit national marine databases and digital maps of sea and oceans; investing in modern, dual-use, long-range deep-sea research vessels. Accelerating marine digital infrastructure development, applying digital technologies, AI, Big Data, remote sensing, and IoT in marine governance, deep-sea technology, smart marine monitoring, next-generation technologies, environmental data, and disaster forecasting and risk management.

Focusing on researching, acquiring, mastering, transferring, and developing advanced ocean technologies; encouraging dual-use technology development. Developing high-quality maritime human resources in appropriate quantity, quality, and structure. Building a contingent of experts, scientists, and state management officials with deep expertise in maritime affairs; implementing specialized training programs in oceanography, marine engineering, technology, and modern governance; selecting key maritime fields within the national education system; enhancing labor demand forecasting capacity. Attracting, utilizing, and connecting domestic, overseas Vietnamese, and international experts to serve national maritime development.

5. Achieving breakthroughs in developing modern, green, smart marine economic sectors and emerging maritime domains

Developing a modern marine economic ecosystem. Accelerating comprehensive green and digital transformations across all marine sectors; prioritizing smart, low-emission production, business, and service models that optimize resource and energy use. Establishing multi-purpose development spaces and shared infrastructure tied to defense, security, and environmental strategies, promoting dual-use defense-security industrial complexes.

Developing the oil, gas, and marine mineral extraction industries toward efficiency and sustainability. Accelerating fundamental surveys, exploration, and extraction using advanced technologies; prioritizing high-value resources, synchronously developing chains from extraction to deep processing. Modernizing oil and gas technical services and offshore engineering; enhancing design, fabrication, and construction capabilities for offshore structures, mastering technology to participate deeply in global value chains. Perfecting special mechanisms and policies for deep-water, offshore, complex, and marginal field projects; improving recovery factors and ultimate recovery. Diversifying supply sources, increasing strategic reserves, ensuring national energy security, and enhancing risk management capabilities.

Developing the maritime economy into a crucial pillar of the marine economy, laying the groundwork for Viet Nam to emerge as a maritime power. Reviewing and adjusting the Master Plan on Viet Nam's Seaport System Development for 2021–2030, vision to 2050. Upgrading seaport systems toward green, smart, and modern directions, effectively developing and exploiting gateway ports, international transshipment hubs, and shared dual-use facilities integrated with infrastructure networks. Investing in coastal power infrastructure and clean fuel reception. Developing a modern merchant fleet to rapidly increase international transport market share. Boosting maritime logistics services, seamlessly connecting with road, rail, inland waterway, and air networks. Developing shipbuilding into an ecosystem synchronized with fleets, inland vessels, ports, logistics, supporting industries, and services toward environmental friendliness and deep global value chain integration; enhancing research and development, design, and manufacturing capabilities for ships and equipment serving marine exploitation and offshore energy.

Restructuring fisheries toward modern, sustainable, value-chain production integrated with ecological zones. Enhance conservation, genetic resource development, and self-sufficiency in seed production; promote science and technology applications in aquaculture, harvesting, preservation, and processing. Restructure and modernize fishing fleets, reduce coastal harvesting, protect aquatic resources; promote offshore fishing and high-tech industrial marine aquaculture combined with sovereignty protection. Prioritize preferential credit for offshore and high-tech marine farming; develop marine aquaculture industrial clusters. Research and develop smart aquaculture vessels and cages integrated with renewable energy and digital technologies. Upgrade infrastructure, preservation, processing, and supporting industry chains. Refine policies for fishermen, fisheries, and fishing grounds to promote sustainable, responsible fisheries; encourage recreational fisheries.

Developing marine tourism and services into a spearhead economic sector with international brand value and competitiveness, preserving and promoting maritime cultural values. Forming large-scale marine tourism centers and clusters; diversifying high-quality, distinctive products, giving priority to resort, cruise, eco-, sports, healthcare, community-based, night-economy, and festival tourism. Prioritizing synchronized, modern tourism infrastructure; strengthening connectivity between coastal, marine, and island tourism spaces.

Robustly developing renewable energy and emerging maritime sectors. Finalizing planning, mechanisms, and policies for offshore wind, marine solar, and alternative energy forms. Establishing incentive mechanisms coupled with technology transfer requirements for foreign investors participating in large-scale marine renewable energy projects. Accelerating sustainable energy transition in coastal areas, rapidly increasing renewable energy shares; developing offshore power generation and coastal data centers. Promoting emerging maritime fields such as high-tech marine aquaculture, marine medicine/pharmacy, marine biotechnology, seawater desalination, wave energy, hydrogen, and green ammonia.

6. Synchronously developing marine infrastructure, expanding national development space, and forming strong regional and national marine economic hubs

Synchronously and modernly developing marine, coastal, island, and connecting infrastructure, particularly transport infrastructure; expanding development space into far sea, deep sea, and new maritime zones. Forming highly competitive growth poles, economic hubs, corridors, and dynamic regions closely tied to the national urban network. 

Prioritizing strategic, dual-use, digital, and energy infrastructure; enhancing seamless connections between transport modes, mountainous and coastal regions, mainland and islands, and coastal growth centers with major economic hubs. Developing modern marine logistics connected with regional and international networks. 

Establishing industrial, service, logistics, energy, and innovation centers based on regional advantages. Selectively attracting investments, prioritizing foundational, supporting, clean, high-tech, and deep-processing industries; developing specialized engineering hubs and supply chains to support maritime, shipbuilding, offshore energy, and emerging marine sectors. Building industrial chains from manufacturing to high-speed/ultra-high-speed submarine cable infrastructure service provision; establishing coastal and subsea data centers.

Developing coastal economic zones toward modern, multi-sectoral, multi-functional models linked to economic hubs and maritime corridors. Establishing outstanding, internationally competitive mechanisms to develop special economic zones, free trade zones, and marine industrial-service-urban clusters into vital growth drivers; forming strong national and regional marine economic centers. Developing modern, green, smart, resilient coastal urban systems.

Link coastal urban development with the spatial reorganization of coastal zones and national urban networks. Prioritizing investment in reinforcing socio-cultural facilities on islands and coastal areas.

7. Protecting the environment, conserving marine ecosystems, proactively responding to climate change, and enhancing resilience for coastal localities and islands

Protecting biodiversity and coastal, marine, and island ecosystems alongside improving sustainable livelihoods and developing a green marine economy. Restoring aquatic resources; expanding and effectively managing marine protected areas and high-biodiversity zones; protecting, restoring, and leveraging mangrove forests, coral reefs, seagrass beds, tidal flats, lagoons, and unique ecological zones. Focusing leadership on resolving difficulties in combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Strictly controling and proactively handling pollution risks from land-based, coastal, island, and marine sources; raising prevention, response, and remediation capabilities for marine environmental incidents. Promoting a circular economy; minimizing ocean plastic waste; collecting, classifying, recycling, and reusing waste; fostering green, low-emission production and consumption models.

Proactively responding to climate change and sea level rise; enhancing resilience, disaster prevention and mitigation, and risk reduction capabilities. Prioritizing upgrading sea dikes integrated with coastal roads, disaster prevention works, and saline intrusion controls; restoring coastal protective forests and ecological wave-breaking belts; combating erosion to protect coastlines, natural terrain, and coastal spaces. Protecting, restoring, and utilizing blue carbon sinks; step-by-step researching, building databases, and establishing mechanisms to realize the value of marine carbon sinks. Modernizing survey, observation, monitoring, and early warning systems for natural disasters, marine environments, saline intrusion, and ecological risks. Conducting comprehensive risk assessments and establishing climate change and sea level rise response scenarios for existing urban areas, infrastructure, and structures.

8. Building maritime culture, elevating living standards, and leveraging coastal communities' strength in national construction and defense

Conserving, restoring, and promoting cultural, historical, and heritage values of sea and islands in association with shaping a distinct Vietnamese maritime cultural identity. Constructing marine parks, coastal plazas, and ecological marine gardens. Promote the role of coastal and island communities in marine spatial development and sovereignty protection. Empowering fishermen and sea-based populations as direct actors in building and defending the Fatherland from the seaward direction. Elevating the material and spiritual lives of marine and island populations, ensuring improved access to development opportunities and essential social services, particularly healthcare and education.

Formulating policies to attract populations to settle stably on eligible islands; supporting sustainable livelihoods for fishermen and islanders. Strengthening social security, insurance, credit, and sustainable poverty reduction policies, with special focus on remote offshore islands and disadvantaged areas.

9. Ensuring defense, security, and safety at sea and on islands; strengthening international integration and cooperation, and elevating national standing

Developing a strong maritime nation must be tightly coupled with ensuring defense, security, and foreign affairs to maintain peace, foster cooperation, and deter maritime conflicts. Strengthening comprehensive defense and security across maritime spaces, maintaining social order and safety for citizens and lawful activities at sea. Solidifying the all-people national defense posture and people's security posture at sea, anchored in the public support of coastal and island communities. Implementing policies to attract resources to build a contingent of cadres and strategic advisors on marine and ocean affairs.

Strengthening marine and island defense zones to be solid, interconnected, and strategically focused; executing socio-economic projects aligned with defense and security duties under the principle of safeguarding the Fatherland early and from afar. Building revolutionary, regular, elite, and modern maritime management, protection, and law enforcement forces. Enhancing forecasting and warning capabilities for maritime security and safety, protecting critical offshore installations. Boosting search, rescue, and incident response capacities; guaranteeing maritime security.

Proactively enhancing international integration, foreign relations, and communications regarding sea and islands; developing a strong maritime nation to contribute to safeguarding sovereignty, peace, and stability for national development; considering international cooperation a key driver for attracting resources, knowledge, technology, and advanced marine management expertise. Proactively participating in formulating, refining, and enforcing international legal regimes, rules, and standards; responsibly and effectively addressing regional and global issues; elevating Viet Nam's role and influence in global ocean governance and protection mechanisms. Persistently pursuing the peaceful resolution of maritime disputes and sea delimitations based on international law; fully and effectively implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC); working toward early conclusion of a substantive and effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) consistent with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Focusing on training and developing personnel with professional competence and international integration capacity; increasing the deployment of cadres and experts to international ocean organizations, forums, and mechanisms./.