International cooperation reinforces Viet Nam’s maritime standing

International cooperation helps elevate the position of Viet Nam as a maritime nation while opening opportunities for technological and financial partnerships to sustainably develop marine environmental resources.

Participating responsibly in the protection of global marine resources and the marine environment.

In recent years, Viet Nam has proactively participated in, signed, and implemented numerous important international instruments and agreements on ocean and marine management. These commitments not only affirm Viet Nam’s role as a responsible member of the international community but also provide a legal and political foundation to strengthen cooperation in conservation, sustainable use, and exploitation of marine resources, as well as in responding to climate change and reducing marine pollution. As a result, Viet Nam’s international reputation has been significantly enhanced, while its “development space” has expanded, enabling the mobilization of external resources to support domestic strategic objectives.

At the regional level, Viet Nam has successfully served as a focal point for numerous maritime cooperation initiatives and actively participated in coordination mechanisms such as the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA), the ASEAN Working Group on Coastal and Marine Environment Management (AWGCME), and the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA). This demonstrates Viet Nam’s growing capacity to participate in governance, policy-making, and co-creation of international cooperation programs, rather than merely acting as a passive recipient.

On the global stage, Viet Nam’s proactive voice at major conferences on oceans, climate, and biodiversity has helped project the image of a dynamic, open, and cooperative coastal nation ready to address transboundary challenges.

Through international cooperation, Viet Nam’s capacity in marine and island science research, technology transfer, and human resource training has been significantly strengthened. Many domestic officials and experts have had the opportunity to participate in training courses and exchange programs, enhancing their professional skills, knowledge, and foreign language proficiency to meet the increasingly high demands of integration.

At the same time, collaboration with international organizations and partners in areas such as deep-sea research, coastal resource management, marine biodiversity conservation, and marine pollution monitoring has provided an important scientific foundation, directly supporting domestic policy-making.

Enhancing integrated marine and island management capacity

Experience over recent years has shown that international cooperation is not merely a supplementary channel but a key driver for innovation and strengthening Viet Nam’s capacity in integrated marine and island management.

International cooperation helps enhance state management capacity. Active participation in multilateral forums and cooperation mechanisms provides opportunities for Viet Nam to adopt and learn from advanced governance models and modern policy tools, such as Marine Spatial Planning (MSP), Integrated Coastal Management (ICM), and green financing mechanisms for marine conservation. This knowledge and experience have been studied, adapted, and domestically codified to fit local conditions, contributing to the improvement of the legal framework and more effective management.

Given the limited domestic resources, expanding cooperation enables Viet Nam to access financial resources, ODA funding, as well as technical and technological support from development partners and leading maritime nations. These are essential conditions for implementing large-scale, long-term investment programs such as basic marine surveys, marine pollution management, sustainable blue economy development, and biodiversity conservation.

International cooperation also serves as a platform for developing and enhancing integration capacity. Through negotiations and exchanges, Vietnamese officials strengthen their resilience, diplomatic skills, and ability to adapt to international rules. This enables Viet Nam not only to “participate” but gradually to “co-create” and take a leading role in regional and global initiatives. An important lesson is that international integration must be proactive; it should go beyond mere reception to actively shaping and proposing initiatives that safeguard national interests in an increasingly competitive strategic environment.

Collaboration with international partners has also driven Viet Nam’s shift from a single-sector resource exploitation mindset to an integrated, ecosystem-based approach that is adaptive to climate change. This demonstrates that international cooperation is not just about “sharing resources” but also a mechanism for “guiding thinking,” helping Viet Nam keep pace with global development trends.

More importantly, international cooperation must always align with national and patriotic interests and be integrated into the overall strategy for sustainable marine economic development. Viet Nam needs to pursue deep integration while maintaining independence and autonomy, carefully selecting suitable partners, and balancing short-term and long-term benefits. Only in this way can international cooperation truly become a driver of development, strengthening the foundation of national governance and affirming Viet Nam’s position as a strong, prosperous, and responsible maritime nation.

Truong Giang