Ramla Khalidi, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme in Việt Nam. — VNA/VNS Photo Việt Đức

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam needs to translate its policy foundations into concrete actions, promote modern marine governance, develop a blue marine economy and mobilise resources effectively to create sustainable livelihoods for coastal communities, according to Ramla Khalidi, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Việt Nam.

Talking to VietnamPlus e-newspaper, Khalidi said Việt Nam has particularly strong advantages for developing its marine economy, noting that the country's strategic position is reflected not only in its more than 3,260km coastline, but also in its connectivity with regional and global economic, energy and ecological flows.

She described the sea as a strategic asset of Việt Nam, saying its extensive maritime area and location along major global shipping routes provide favourable conditions for trade, logistics, port services and stronger connections with regional and global markets.

According to Khalidi, Việt Nam also has significant potential to become a hub for green and low-carbon industries. Its offshore wind potential is estimated at more than 1,000GW, while opportunities in areas such as green hydrogen, blue shipping and climate resilient infrastructure could create new growth drivers and support the country's commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

She also highlighted Việt Nam’s rich marine natural capital, with more than 11,000 marine species and important ecosystems such as coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangrove forests. These ecosystems directly support the livelihoods of more than four million people working in fisheries and have significant carbon storage capacity.

If Việt Nam continues to promote innovation, strengthen integrated marine governance and effectively mobilise public and private investment for nature-based solutions, it could realise its ambition of becoming a strong, prosperous and sustainable maritime nation in the 21st century, she added.

Turning policy foundations into concrete actions

Khalidi said that nearly eight years after Resolution 36-NQ/TW was issued, Việt Nam had made important progress in laying the foundations for green and sustainable marine economic development.

She noted that Resolution 20-NQ/TW of the third meeting of the 14th Party Central Committee on building and developing Việt Nam into a strong maritime nation requested a major shift in mindset, from tapping the sea to modern marine governance and from fragmented sectoral development to integrated governance of national maritime space.

However, she said there remained a significant gap between Việt Nam's considerable marine potential and its ability to turn that potential into economic, social and environmental value on a broader scale.

She recommended four priorities for the next few years: strengthening coordination in marine spatial governance and translating plans into effective actions; accelerating marine conservation; developing marine data infrastructure and addressing obstacles in the allocation of marine areas; and further developing green financing mechanisms for the marine economy.

Khalidi stressed that blue marine economic development should not only deliver environmental benefits, but also generate clear economic value. UNDP's Blue Economy Scenarios for Việt Nam estimates that marine economic sectors could generate US$70.1 billion in 2030, equivalent to up to 35 per cent of the nation's GDP and about $23.5 billion more (or 34 per cent higher) than under conventional development.

She thus emphasised the need to turn established policy foundations into concrete actions so that Việt Nam can generate greater value from the sea, while maintaining a healthy ocean and ensuring sustainable livelihoods for coastal communities.

Five potential blue economy models

Khalidi said the UNDP had identified five groups of blue economy models with potential in Việt Nam: high-tech fisheries and aquaculture; community-based ecotourism; blue ports; marine renewable energy; and nature-based models, such as blue carbon and marine conservation.

These models could combine economic growth and livelihood creation with ecosystem protection and restoration, while increasing the value of marine resources, she noted.

However, to develop and scale up these models, Việt Nam needed to address several gaps, including a shortage of effective implementation mechanisms and sufficiently attractive economic and financial instruments, fragmented inter-sectoral coordination, limited capacity for model design at the local level and data gaps in monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) systems.

She also stressed that different models would have different investment cycles, risk profiles, profitability and capital requirements. Financial policies and instruments thus needed to be sufficiently flexible to reflect the specific characteristics and readiness of each model.

Việt Nam would also need flexible incentives and specialised green financial instruments, stronger inter-sectoral coordination, improved local governance capacity and a more complete MRV data system, she said.

A transparent and stable policy environment would also be important to reduce risks, strengthen investor confidence and ensure local communities could participate in and benefit from the transition, Khalidi added.

Lessons from Norway

Khalidi said Norway offered notable lessons for Việt Nam in combining large-scale marine economic development with ecosystem protection.

She highlighted Norway's science-based integrated marine governance, including integrated management plans for strategic waters such as the Barents, Norwegian and North seas, supported by inter-ministerial and inter-sectoral coordination to allocate marine space for oil and gas, offshore wind, fisheries, shipping and conservation.

Norway had also shifted its marine economic value chains from resource-intensive activities towards technology and higher value addition. In fisheries, for example, the country had developed high-tech aquaculture, strengthened disease management and increased value through quality, traceability and global branding, with Norwegian salmon serving as a clear example.

In shipping and energy, Norway had promoted fleet electrification and green ports, while leveraging its oil and gas capabilities and infrastructure to support offshore wind development. Transparent and shared marine data had also provided a foundation for updating planning and supplying reliable information for long-term investment decisions, she said.

For Việt Nam, Khalidi said these experiences underscored the need to move from approving the National Marine Spatial Plan to effective implementation and stronger inter-sectoral coordination; upgrade marine economic value chains through technology, quality improvement, traceability and greater value addition; and develop green financial instruments to mobilise private resources. She also stressed the need to strengthen data and measurement tools at the local level.

UNDP had begun developing the Việt Nam Provincial Blue Economy Index, drawing on international measurement frameworks and the experience of pioneering countries. The index would cover 21 coastal localities across four pillars: economy, society, environment and governance.

This would help monitor growth quality and progress towards a greener economy and attract sustainable investment, improving transparency and supporting evidence-based policymaking, she said. VNA/VNS