Fishmen receive preferential loans for building their fishing vessel. (Photo: VNA)The central province of Quang Binh has map out a plan to provide financial assistance for local fishermen to build and upgrade 80 more fishing vessels and five logistics vessels by 2016.
The plan was revealed by the local People’s Committee on July 30 at a conference reviewing the first-phase implementation of a programme on fisheries development under Government Decree 67.
Under the plan, in the second of half of this year, 22 fishing vessels will be built for districts, towns and cities in the province, according to the local steering committee for the programme.
So far, as many as 17 fishing shipbuilding projects have been approved by the local People’s Committee, including six iron-covered and 11 wood-covered ships worth a total of 95.23 billion VND (4.45 million USD).
Local branches of the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) and the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) have signed 10 credit contracts worth 73.64 billion VND (3.44 million USD) with individuals and units.
Nearly one third of the amount (21.02 billion VND) has been spent on building eight ships, including one ion-covered and seven wood-covered ships. Three have been launched and put into operation.
The local steering committee has received 51 applications for off-shore insurance worth nearly 2 billion VND (93,457 USD). Only 13 are eligible for fishing tools and fishermen insurance coverage .
Decree 67, issued last year, stipulates provisions for fisheries development, including supporting fishermen in building high-capacity, iron-covered ships designed for offshore fishing.
Commercial banks nationwide have pledged about 14 trillion VND (658 million USD) in loans for organisations and individuals wishing to build new ships or upgrade their existing fishing vessels. Borrowers must be approved by municipal or provincial authorities.
As many as 2,079 new off-shore fishing ships and 205 logistics ships will be built under this decree, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.-VNA
