The Government Standing Committee allocates a 16,000 billion VND package to support fishermen.

On July 3, at the Government Headquarters, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung chaired a meeting of the Government Standing Committee to decide on the plan to allocate and use 16,000 billion VND to support fishermen in building offshore fishing boats; building ships and equipment for the coast guard and fisheries surveillance forces.

The 16,000 billion VND support package is expected to create a "push" to encourage fishermen to stay at sea and go offshore.

Decision on provisional budget support for repair and safety assurance of reservoirs in 2014 and plan to support repair and safety assurance of reservoirs in 2015.

Support fishermen and shipbuilding for law enforcement at sea

Pursuant to Resolution No. 72/2014/QH13, 7th session, 13th National Assembly; Resolutions of regular Government meetings in May and June 2014, on July 3, 2014, at the Government Headquarters, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung chaired a meeting of the Government Standing Committee to decide on the Plan for allocating and using 16,000 billion VND to support fishermen in building offshore fishing boats; building ships and equipment for the coast guard and fisheries surveillance forces.

At the meeting, after listening to the Report of the Ministry of Finance and the opinions of relevant Ministries and branches, and the opinions of Deputy Prime Ministers, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, on behalf of the Government Standing Committee, concluded as follows:

Decision to spend 4,500 billion VND to support fishermen to build offshore fishing boats according to the Government's Decree.

Decision to spend 11,500 billion VND to build a total of 32 new ships of various types for the coast guard and fisheries surveillance force.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung stated that the decision and implementation of the VND16,000 billion support package aims to help improve the law enforcement capacity of Vietnam's maritime authorities, ensure safety for fishermen, support fishermen to stay at sea for long periods of time, and improve the efficiency of seafood exploitation in Vietnam's sovereign waters.

Supporting fishermen to invest in building offshore fishing vessels and law enforcement forces will contribute to firmly protecting the sovereignty of seas and islands; protecting Vietnam's maritime interests; supporting and protecting fishermen; carrying out search and rescue missions at sea and other important tasks.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said that based on the actual situation and the ability to balance the budget, the Government will continue to allocate resources to enhance the capacity of law enforcement forces at sea and support fishermen.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung assigned relevant ministries and branches to complete the plan and draft Decision to submit to the Prime Minister for signing and promulgation. The Prime Minister also assigned the Government Office and relevant ministries and branches to complete the Draft Decree of the Government on supporting fishermen to build offshore fishing vessels for promulgation in July 2014.

Support funding for repairs and ensure safety of water reservoirs

According to the report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, there are currently about 1,150 damaged and degraded reservoirs nationwide that need to be repaired and upgraded, of which 320 are damaged and unsafe during the flood season.

After listening to the opinions of leaders of several relevant ministries and branches, and the opinions of Deputy Prime Ministers; Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung concluded that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is responsible for directing and coordinating with provinces and cities to ensure absolute safety of reservoirs and irrigation dams during the storm season. For weak reservoirs and dams, leaders of relevant ministries and branches will inspect, review, direct and assign responsibility to local authorities for plans to store water during the storm season, ensuring the safety of reservoirs.

The Government decided to advance VND426 billion to focus on completing the repair of the remaining reservoirs out of a total of 93 urgent reservoirs that have been implemented according to plan since 2013.

The Prime Minister requested relevant ministries and branches to check the progress of project completion and capital management, ensuring spending is on target and on list.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development coordinates with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment to review and develop a list of 169 damaged reservoirs out of a total of 320 reservoirs requiring repair and upgrading to allocate budget and implement in 2015.

According to the report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the country currently has 45 provinces and cities that have built and put into operation 6,648 irrigation reservoirs, of which 560 are large reservoirs (with a capacity of more than 3 million cubic meters or dams higher than 15 meters); 1,752 reservoirs have a capacity of 0.2 million to 3 million cubic meters, and the remaining 4,336 reservoirs have a capacity of less than 0.2 million cubic meters. Most of the reservoirs were built in the 70s and 80s of the last century, have been exploited for a long time, and are damaged and degraded to varying degrees.

Faced with this situation, in 2003 the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development developed and submitted to the Government for approval a Program to ensure the safety of water reservoirs. After 10 years of implementation, the Program has repaired and upgraded nearly 600 reservoirs of all types, with a total cost of nearly 6,000 billion VND.

According to Vietnam+