Nghe An: Marine economic development is not commensurate with its potential

Realistic recognition

Compared with the previous stage,marine economic developmentCurrently, there are specific conditions and contexts, advantages intertwined with difficulties and challenges. The most obvious is the seafood exploitation and fishing industry. If in the period 2014 - 2018, the offshore fishing industry really exploded with the offshore fleet being continuously built, productivity and prices reaching peaks, then from 2019 until now, fishing has been ineffective, the fishing industry is showing signs of decline.

From a fishing fleet of over 3,700 vessels, including nearly 1,400 offshore fishing vessels with a length of 15m or more, the province now has only 1,161 vessels and no new vessels are built every year. The ship repair and building industry in the area has therefore also fallen into difficulty. A series of workshops and boat building facilities in the communes of Quynh Lap (Hoang Mai Town), Quynh Nghia, Quynh Tho (Quynh Luu), and Trung Kien Craft Village (Nghi Loc) have been forced to close.

Nghe An shipyards are facing difficulties due to lack of orders. In the photo: Mr. Tran Dinh Anh's shipyard in Quynh Lap commune, Quynh Luu district. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Due to international requirements, the fishing industry is subject to more stringent constraints. Specifically, after the Fisheries Law was enacted, fishing vessels must have full operating licenses such as inspection procedures, crew list registration to present when entering and leaving port; each fishing vessel must record the output of each area and fishing time to trace the origin.

In particular, from July 1, 2020, fishing vessels over 15m in length must install VMS journey monitoring equipment and maintain a 24/7 connection, making it really difficult for fishermen, because if they have to fish in the regulated waters, there will be no fish, but if they fish in international waters, if they do not have a license, they will be reminded by the authorities, even severely punished, and the vessel will be arrested...

Fisheries control forces of the provincial interdisciplinary team inspect and guide fishermen on sea procedures. Photo: Nguyen Hai

The province's fishing infrastructure still has many shortcomings, making it difficult for fishermen to fish and change jobs, making it difficult for management agencies to carry out their duties. If punishment is not strict, fishermen will become immune to the law and be given yellow cards, boycotted by the market. If punishment is strict, it will be difficult for fishermen to go offshore and stick to the sea, and ineffective fishing will cause many other social security consequences.

(Mr. Tran Chau Thanh - Head of Inspection and Legal Department, Nghe An Fisheries Department shared)

Another spearhead of the marine economy is the development of maritime transport services. Nghe An is a province that has early advantages in seaports in the region withCua Lo international portsynchronous investment

However, up to now, in comparison with Thanh Hoa and Ha Tinh, the seaport system in Nghe An is lagging behind because Nghi Son deep-water port and Vung Ang port have been newly invested, synchronously, meeting the requirements of super-long and super-heavy ships - something that Cua Lo port and some other ports in Nghe An do not have.

Cua Lo town renovates coastal urban infrastructure in early summer to welcome the new tourist season "after" the Covid-19 pandemic and economic recovery. (Photo taken in April 2022)

Another spearhead of the marine economy is marine tourism. With beautiful beaches and pristine landscapes, beaches such as Cua Lo, Bai Lu, Dien Thanh, and Quynh beach are always attractive destinations for tourists from all over the world. However, marine tourism is not commensurate with its potential.

Mr. Nguyen Van Nam - Deputy Director of the Provincial Center for Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion said: Although there has been an improvement, Nghe An sea tourism still has some limitations such as lack of highlights and poor connectivity in organizing events to retain tourists; transportation infrastructure and accommodation facilities are also limited, so when there are big events, tourist facilities are often full and vice versa, normally there are few visitors.

Offshore fishing boats anchor at Cua Hoi fishing port area, Cua Lo town. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Nghe An used to be a bright spot in the North in aquaculture and shrimp seed development. However, up to now, this industry is showing signs of slowing down and finding it difficult to break through. The main reason is that infrastructure investment is not basic and community connectivity is weak, so after a period of spontaneous exploitation and farming, the farming environment has degraded, leading to continuous disease and losses. The Quynh Luu - Hoang Mai area once had 22 shrimp seed production farms, but now the number of remaining facilities is only on the fingers...

Choose breakthroughs and focus on investment

The draft Project on marine economic development, period 2022 - 2030 and vision to 2045 of Nghe An province assesses: The space and potential for marine economic development in coastal districts, cities and towns is still quite large.

According to the Nghe An Statistics Office, this area, although not large in natural area, has a population of over 1 million people, accounting for 1/3 of the province's total population. With such a population size, according to convention, the annual contribution rate to GRDP must be at least 30% (target of Resolution 36/NQ/TW in 2018, the coastal area must contribute up to 60-70% of GRDP).

However, by 2021, the contribution to the GRDP of the region (excluding Vinh city) only reached 26%. Similarly, the growth rate of added value of the coastal region was only 5.95% compared to the average of the whole province of 6.06%; the average income per capita was 41.45 million VND, equal to 0.96% compared to the average of the whole province.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development invested nearly 200 billion VND in upgrading the port infrastructure in the south of Lach Quen fishing port (Quynh Luu district). Photo: Nguyen Hai

Since 2021, with the attention of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the province has invested nearly 50 billion VND to upgrade the infrastructure of the 200-hectare concentrated shrimp farming area in Quynh Bang commune (Quynh Luu) and is currently proposing to add 120 billion VND to invest in upgrading the 192.7-hectare concentrated shrimp farming area in Hoang Mai town. At the same time, continue to survey other farming areas for investment and upgrading. At the same time, the province is also interested in encouraging and promoting investment to turn Nghe An into a center for shrimp seed production in the country; research and apply biotechnology to spirulina production...

Developing a high-tech marine economy in the direction of research to produce spirulina products is one of the advantages of the coastal economy of Nghe An. Photo: Tran Duy Ngoan

At the workshop on aquaculture development to serve the Project on restructuring the Fisheries sector to 2030 and vision to 2045, along with continuing to affirm that the fishing industry is the strength of Nghe An's fisheries, Mr. Le Van Huong - Deputy Head of the Department of Fisheries affirmed: Unlike other provinces, Nghe An's sea area is quite open, so it is difficult to raise cages, the coastal lagoon area is small, so the ability to expand the farming area is very difficult. Therefore, to create great value and breakthroughs in aquaculture, it is necessary to invest heavily in upgrading infrastructure, applying high technology to all stages; combining farming with intensive processing to increase productivity and farming value...

Visiting the white-leg shrimp seed production model in a net house in Quynh Bang commune, Quynh Luu district. Photo: Nguyen Hai

For sea tourism, in additionBai Lu tourist areaNearly 2,000 billion VND has been invested to build an international-class beach resort. Currently, Cua Lo town has also completed the relocation of 220 coastal kiosks to invest and renovate them in a more spacious and modern direction.

In the future, if the cable car system fromVinpearl Cua HoiWhen Ngu Island comes into operation, Nghe An sea tourism will have more highlights to attract visitors. In addition, the representative of Dien Chau District People's Committee also said: In the coming time, along with investment in upgrading infrastructure of coastal motels and hotels, sports fields such as Golf, tennis or eco-resorts in the delta will be connected with beach tourism areas to improve the quality and depth of Nghe An sea tourism services.

Ships dock to unload goods at Cua Lo Port, Nghe An.

Nghe An Provincial People's Committee has identified that the seaport infrastructure system is a bottleneck, one of the province's strategic infrastructure "bottlenecks". Meanwhile, there is still a lot of room for seaport development, and the demand of enterprises is increasing. Seaports in the province have not yet met the demand for transporting goods by sea of ​​enterprises in large industrial parks such as VSIP, WHA, and Hoang Thinh Dat.

Currently,Cua Lo portCurrently operating with 20,000 - 30,000 DWT ships with reduced capacity, the output is about 6 million tons/year. Meanwhile, the demand for import and export of goods of Nghe An province in the coming period is 20-30 million tons. If the infrastructure capacity cannot meet the requirements for import and export of goods, the risk that many export enterprises will have to go through Nghi Son port (Thanh Hoa), Vung Ang (Ha Tinh) or Hai Phong port is very likely to occur.

Previously, on December 1, at the 10th Conference of the Provincial Party Committee, Comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the National Assembly Delegation, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council requested the provincial authorities to focus on removing the "bottlenecks" pointed out. In particular, striving to start construction of Cua Lo Deep-water Seaport in early 2023; at the same time, it is necessary to continue removing procedures to soon renovate and upgrade Vinh International Airport...

Dredger carrying out dredging project at Cua Lo Port. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Hopefully, with a focused and key strategy, prioritizing areas that can create breakthroughs such as developing transportation services, seaports, and marine tourism; shipbuilding and repair industry, fishing logistics; exploitation, aquaculture, investment in seafood processing, production of animal feed from seafood, etc. in the near future, Nghe An's marine economy will soon make a breakthrough, worthy of its position and potential.