Since 1999 Norway and Vietnam have cooperated on the project to establish and implement the Vietnamese Fisheries Law. The last annual meeting for phase 2 of the project was held recently in Hanoi. The Vietnamese Vice minister of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), His Excellency Luong Le Phuong, added prestige to the meeting.
The annual meeting between the stakeholders to the project to establish and implement the Vietnamese Fisheries Law was held on 26 January 2011 in Hanoi. Vice Minister Phuong in Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) expressed his gratitude towards Norway’s support. “I would like to thank the effective and enthusiastic cooperation and assistance of the Norwegian Government,” he said.
In 1999 phase 1 of the project called the “Establishment of Vietnam Fisheries Law and Regulations” was initiated. The project involves MARD, the Norwegian Fisheries Directorate, the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research, and the Norwegian Centre for Development Cooperation in Fisheries. Phase 1 focused on the formulation of a law concerning the Fisheries sector. After five years of cooperation the new Vietnamese Law on Fisheries was adopted by the National Assembly in 2003 and entered into force 1 July 2004.
Year 2011 marks the last year for the second and last phase of this project. With the slogan “bringing the law to life” it has during the past 6 years facilitated technical assistance to implement the Fisheries Law established in the first phase. Reports on the project’s results and status were presented at the annual meeting by Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Anh, the National Project Director from the legal department of MARD. She could reveal that the second phase has revised the Fisheries Law’s effectiveness. The results from the revision will be submitted to the National Assembly by the end of the second phase.
Deputy Head of Mission Ann-Helen Azedo from the Norwegian Embassy represented Norway at the annual meeting. Brit Fisknes, representative from The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), attended the meeting together with Johan Williams from the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries.
