HANOI (AFP): The United States embassy in Hanoi has announced a US$12.5-million package to help Vietnam boost its maritime law enforcement and combat illegal fishing.
The assistance package includes the donation of small boats and the development of training facilities.
This "will support Vietnam in strengthening maritime law enforcement and combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing," the statement said.
Vietnam's IUU fishing has led to diplomatic tensions with other Southeast Asian nations and undermined regional solidarity on South China Sea issues, Nguyen Khac Giang of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute wrote earlier this year.
IUU fishing also poses a significant threat to Vietnam's thriving fishing industry, he said.
In 2017, the European Commission (EC) issued a "yellow card" warning against the country's fishing industry for failing to adhere to regulations, making it significantly harder for Vietnam to export to the EU market.
The financial package also comes after Vietnam's foreign ministry in October condemned China's "brutal behaviour" during a violent attack on Vietnamese fishers in the disputed South China Sea.
Ten fishermen were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars worth of fish and equipment off the Paracel Islands -- an archipelago in the resource-rich waterway claimed by China, Vietnam and other countries.
The US embassy said it shares Vietnam's concerns about Beijing's increasing assertiveness in the contested waters.
"The United States supports a free and open Indo-Pacific and a strong, prosperous, independent, and resilient Vietnam," said the embassy statement. - AFP
