Blue is the colour for ASEAN’s objectives

“We reiterated the importance of cooperation on this issue and called for the implementation of the ASEAN Leaders Declaration on the Blue Economy. We looked forward to exploring cooperation in accordance with the said declaration,” read a joint communiqué released during the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting organised over a week ago in Cambodia.

Blue is the colour for ASEAN’s objectives-illustration photo

Under the declaration, the member states agree that the blue economy for ASEAN refers to “the sustainable, resilient, and inclusive use, governance, management, and conservation of oceans and seas as well as marine and coastal resources and ecosystems for economic growth”. It covers various sectors such as fishery, aquaculture, maritime transport, renewable energy, tourism, climate change, and research and development, as well as improving human wellbeing and social equity.

ASEAN member states are committed to promoting and advancing the blue economy in their respective countries within the framework of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and the ASEAN Charter.

The member states agree to explore cooperation in areas such as marine environmental protection; illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; marine and coastal ecosystems protection; sustainable aquaculture and fishing practices; biotechnology; marine industrial development; marine pollution; food security; coastal tourism and heritage conservation, and more besides.

Authorised agencies in Vietnam are now planning specific activities and programmes to materialise the country’s relevant commitments within ASEAN. They will focus on how to promote the potential of the country’s marine economy to expand trade and investment ties with regional nations.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been urging the Vietnamese government to take drastic action to protect the ocean where its resources are exploited in service of national socioeconomic development.

“In Vietnam, as much as 2,000 tonnes of plastic waste leaks from the country into the ocean every day. It is estimated that there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050,” said Caitlin Wiesen, resident representative in Vietnam for the UNDP.

The value of the marine economy in the APEC region alone was estimated to be $2.06 trillion in 2015, contributing approximately 4.7 per cent of total APEC GDP. “In Vietnam, the ocean economy is expected to contribute up to 10 per cent of GDP by 2030,” Wiesen added.

According to the UNDP, Vietnam’s long coastline provides great natural capital for economic growth for its 28 coastal provinces. The coastline and seas also offer significant potential for inshore and offshore wind power, which, if sustainably developed, will support energy security and help Vietnam meet its commitment of net-zero emissions by 2050.

Under a study released a few months ago by the Vietnam Administration of Sea and Islands under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the UNDP, with the blue scenario applied, GDP would be about nearly $13 billion more than the baseline scenario by 2025, and $23.5 billion more by 2030.

Meanwhile, under Vietnam’s Strategy for Sustainable Development of the Marine Economy until 2030, released in 2018, it was deemed necessary to boost the expansion of marine renewables towards achieving 10,000MW installed by 2030.

The strategy underlined that Vietnam “will actively improve the effectiveness of international integration and cooperation, giving priority to attracting world-leading strategic investors with source technology and advanced management skills on the principle of equality, mutual benefit, and respect for Vietnam’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”

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