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| US Ambassador to Việt Nam Marc E. Knapper during a meeting with Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phùng Đức Tiến in Phú Quốc City on Thursday. — VNA/VNS Photo Văn Sĩ |
KIÊN GIANG — US Ambassador to Việt Nam Marc E. Knapper on Thursday announced a new US$12.5 million foreign assistance package to Việt Nam, during a meeting with Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phùng Đức Tiến at the Department of Fisheries Surveillance (DFIRES) Training Facility, Region 5 in Phú Quốc City, in the southern province of Kiên Giang.
Made possible by the US Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), the assistance package will support Việt Nam in strengthening maritime law enforcement and combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
It includes support for Vietnamese maritime law enforcement agencies, including DFIRES, the Ministry of Public Security, and the General Department of Việt Nam Customs, via the donation of small boats, capacity building, and the development of realistic maritime law enforcement training facilities.
Tiến said that he appreciated the US support and the attention that the US Ambassador pays to Việt Nam's fisheries industry through programmes, projects, and technical assistance in the field of aquatic resources conservation, especially support for capacity building for Việt Nam fisheries surveillance forces and anti-IUU fishing efforts.
He emphasised that this support package will help add important resources to Việt Nam's fisheries surveillance and maritime law enforcement forces to continue effectively implementing their tasks, especially combating IUU fishing, he said.
During his visit to Phú Quốc, Ambassador Knapper also observed maritime boarding scenarios performed by Vietnamese fisheries enforcement and customs officers, including many women officers, as part of an ongoing series of capacity building activities supported by the US Mission to Việt Nam, through INL, to promote the meaningful participation of women in maritime law enforcement. — VNA/VNS
