The central coastal region is eyeing a long-term strategy on developingthe maritime economy in order to fully tap its abundant sea resources.

The region comprises nine provinces from ThuaThien-Hue to Binh Thuan with a total coastline length of more than1,400km and the two large fishing grounds of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa.

However, due to out-of-date fishing and preservation methods, the seafood output and value still remain low.

In 2012, the region’s fisheries sector posted 27.3 trillion VND (1.28billion USD) in production value, accounting for 34 percent of thetotal agro-fishery-forestry output but just nearly 5 percent of thetotal export value of the region.

To furtherdevelop the maritime economy, Director of the Vietnam Institute ofEconomics Tran Dinh Thien said that it is necessary for the region tohave a long-term strategy for off-shore fishing and sea food processingto create its special products.

Meanwhile,local authorities have called for more support policy for fishermen,particularly credit access, so that they can build modern vessels foroff-shore fishing.

According to Deputy Ministerof Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam, the Ministry hassubmitted to the government a proposal on building five modern fisherylogistics centres in the central region.-VNA