Industrial development and environmental protection at Quang Ninh province

Industrial sectors have been playing a key role in socio-economic development and making an important contribution to the increase of GDP and state budget revenues of the Quang Ninh province, however, they have caused the most serious environmental pollution. Therefore, the balance of industrial development and environmental protection is more and more necessary. Through doing a research on the reality of industrial development and environmental protection of the Quang Binh province in 2010-2017, this article clarifies achievements and limitations as well as their root causes in order to find solutions for these issues and for the provincial industrial manufactures; and to make several proposals for the Government, Ministries and Branches in the locality.

INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTION AT QUANG NINH PROVINCE

Assoc Prof Nguyen Thua Loc

School of Trade and International Economics

Email: nguyenthualoc@gmail.com

M.Econ Dang Thanh Binh

Abstract

Industrial sectors have been playing a key role in socio-economic development and making an important contribution to the increase of GDP and state budget revenues of the Quang Ninh province, however, they have caused the most serious environmental pollution Therefore, the balance of industrial development and environmental protection

is more and more necessary Through doing a research on the reality of industrial development and environmental protection of the Quang Binh province in 2010-2017, this article clarifies achievements and limitations as well as their root causes in order to find solutions for these issues and for the provincial industrial manufactures; and to make several proposals for the Government, Ministries and Branches in the locality

Keywords: industrial development at Quang Ninh province; environmental

protection in Quang Ninh; Reality and Solutions

1 Reality of industrial development at Quang Ninh province

The study of industrial development at the Quang Ninh province from 2010 to 2017 shows the following realities:

Frist, due to the different miniral resources, Quang Ninh‘s industrial sectors are diverse and have had a stable growth GRDP (Gross Regional Domestic Product) by industry of Quang Ninh in 2016 was 2.27 times higher than that in 2010, making a reasonable economic structure for the province In its 2017 economic structure, agriculture accounted for 6.7% while industry, construction accounted for 52.1% and services accounted for 41.2%

Figure 1.1: GRDP (Gross Regional Domestic Product) by industry of Quang

Ninh 2010-2017 at current prices

Unit: VND Billion

Source: Quang Ninh Statistical Office 2017: Quang Ninh Statistical Yearbook

2016, page 43, 2017 *: estimated figures

Second, the provincial industry has an attempt to be independent from coal mining

and has various sectors Key products of the province in 2016 included coal (38,671 million tons; cement (3.65 million tons); vegetable oil (253,000 tons); electricity (25,473

frozen aquatic products (1,815 tons); flour (318,000 tons); fish sauce (1,065 million litres); beer (26,203 million litres); mineral water (83.7 million litres) These are goods used for production and essential consumption of people

Third, in the structure of investment capital for industrial production development

of the province, state capital decreased from 59.6% in 2010 to 39.6% in 2016 while non-state capital slightly increased from 35.2% to 40.8% and foreign direct capital increased from 5.2% to 19.6% (1, 73)

Fourth, there are just a small number of FDI projects in Quang Ninh The total

amount of FDI capital into the province, which has just slightly increased since 2010, is not much From 1988 to 2016, there were 124 projects, with a total committed capital of 6,215.9 million USD and a total disbursed capital of 4,403.3 million USD The FDI capital into the province was distributed to such sectors as fertilizer production, manufacturing industry, lodging service, construction and other sectors (1, 84-85)

Fifth, there are just a small number of enterprises operating in the province (2,768

enterprises in 2010 and 4,541 enterprises in 2015) In terms of structure, state-owned enterprises increased slightly in absolute terms, from 90 to 94, but decreased in relative terms, from 3.3% to 2.1% in 2015 The non-state enterprises went up from 2,635 to 4,392

50,097

99,294 110,626 122,576

26,090

53,042

24,017 48,365

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

in absolute terms; and increased from 95.2% to 96.7% in relative terms In absolute terms, foreign enterprises increased from 43 to 55 but decreased in relative terms from 1.6% to 1.2% (1, 102-107) According to the Department of Planning and Investment, up to November 2017, the total number of registered enterprises and their dependent units in the province was 14,900 with a total registered capital of 147, 990 billion VND (9.93 billion VND per enterprise on average)

Sixth, the number of waste collection enterprises in the province is very low In

2015, there was only one drainage and wastewater solution enterprise with fewer than 100 employees Besides, there were just 22 waste collecting, processing and recycling enterprises, out of which 17 enterprises had fewer than 100 employees The fixed asset value per drainage and wastewater solution enterprise in 2015 was 40 million VND while the total fixed asset value of all the waste and pollution management enterprises was 467 million VND This figure was so inconsiderable that the service quality and the operational efficiency of these enterprises were not good enough (1, 111)

Seventh, according to the approved planning, the Quang Ninh industrial establishment

system consists of 11 industrial zones, 19 industrial clusters, one coastal economic zone (Van Don), and three border-gate economic zones (Mong Cai, Hoanh MO - Dong Van and Bac Phong Sinh) The provincial enterprises are distributed uneven, located mainly in such areas as Ha Long city, Cam Pha city, Mong Cai city and Dong Trieu town The number of enterprises in the northeastern districts of the province such as Ba Che, Dam Ha, Tien Yen

is small (1,107)

2 Reality of environmental protection in Quang Ninh

2.1 Achievements

First, due to the early awareness of the important role of environmental protection

in economic development, the activities of environmental management and protection in the province have been well organized

Quang Ninh is the province having the largest coal resource in Vietnam with a total reserve of 8.8 billion tonnes The coal mining industry provides fuel for electricity generation and energy for other industries; enabling to develop the provincial economy, to create jobs for the locals and to make key state budget revenues for the province In 2017, coal production reached 36.33 million tons, accounting for 46.9% of the domestic budget revenue However, this industry caused the most serious environmental pollution Being aware of the impact of environmental protection on stable economic development, at the beginning of 2010, the provincial standing committee issued Directive No 30-CT/TU dated September 7, 2010 on enhancing the leadership and guiding the environmental management and protection in the province The Quang Ninh Provincial People‘s Committee issued Resolution No 32/2010/NQ-HĐND dated December 10, 2010 on environmental management and protection in the province, stating ―The Provincial People‘s Committee has issued many documents for guiding and implementing a lot of environmental protection measures, thus the awareness of the environmental protection of

all levels, branches, localities, people and enterprises has been raised‖ Therefore, the activities of environmental management and protection in the province have changed dramatically (3, article 1)

Second, the legal document system has been developed and completed as a basis for

the environmental management and protection in the province

The legal document system of environmental management and protection in the province has been updated and improved continually Therefore, Quang Ninh is one of the provinces having enough the legal document system and guidance documents of environmental state management early (4,1-2)

Third, the province has actively cooperated with the coal industry and electricity

industry, step by step resolving issues of environmental pollution caused by the coal mining and production system and the electricity generation system in the past; for example, removing factories from residential areas and separating the coal transport system from public passenger transport in order to minimize the impact of pollution on the people's life

Fourth, science and technology have been applied to production Besides, the

norms relating to the local environmental protection have been issued, forming the basic for inspecting and controlling the environmental pollution

Fifth, economic zones, industrial parks and clusters, border-gate economic zones

and their management boards have been established to manage the local industrial manufacturing units

Sixth, the province has organized dissemination of environmental protection for

local people in residential areas and enterprises in industrial parks, and drawn investment into this activity

Seventh, in recent years, Quang Ninh has been implementing administrative

reforms, placing emphasis on the improvement of business environment and natural environment The province has also been a pioneer in evaluation and ranking the economic management of the provincial departments, agencies and branches for enterprises with DDCI Index Therefore, the regulations on state management of environmental protection are disseminated quickly and conveniently

2.2 Limitations

First, ―Overcoming environmental pollution caused by coal mining and construction

material production has been inefficient‖ (2,2)

Coal mining and screening is the largest source of emissions in the province, accounting for 79.0% of the total emission amount in 2015 and 68.8% of the total emission amount by 2020 Two other major sources of emissions which are energy production and consumption, cement production tend to increase rapidly in the coming period Wastewater from coal mining sites runs off on the surface Coal transportation inside and outside the mine, on the routes to factories; and operation of thermal power plants cause air pollution

and increase the level of dust in the environment Wastewater from thermal power plants

ecosystems around them (6; 63-64)

Second, coal mining has a negative impact on the health of the residents around the

area The dust level in coal mines and dumps is higher than the standard many times High dust concentrations can cause serious lung diseases

Third, coal mining sector causes bad effects on the current tourist attractions and

the surrounding landscapes, preventing tourism development

Fourth, in some industrial parks and clusters of the province, due to unsynchronized

technical infrastructure and limited management, wastewater collecting and processing do not meet the requirements Furthermore, because of the uninterrupted traffic flow of heavy goods vehicles in some industrial parks, up to now, many construction items have been seriously degraded

Fifth, the funding for environmental protection in economic zones, industrial parks

and clusters is limited; so the province has not mobilized the active participation of production and business units, communities and society

Sixth, the quantity and quality of the environmental management tools are

inadequate, especially in remote areas There have not been synchronous database system and automatic environmental monitoring system yet The funding for the management activities of the provincial environmental protection at the industrial parks and clusters, for example, sampling of wastewater and exhaust fumes, has been limited

Seventh, some enterprises‘awareness of complying with state regulations of

environmental protection has been low

2.3 Causes of limitations

Objectively, Quang Ninh has the potential for developing the coal industry,

electricity industry and construction material industry The province also has a great potential for developing trade, investment and tourism However, the development of one sector will make negative or positive influence on other sectors in the locality The provincial economic structure is depending on the industrial sectors causing the most serious pollution, affecting badly the stable economic growth

The management mechanism and autonomy of localities had a great impact on the environmental protection in the past Coal mining and developing thermal power and construction material sectors in the province depended too much on the development planning and implementation of ministries and branches at the central level The province only had authority in local management

Subjectively, the awareness, thinking, vision and behavior of state agencies at all

levels in economic development and environmental protection are the most important things The mechanism, policies and short-term, inconsistent thinking of the generations of local leaders have great impact on industrial development and environmental protection in the province

3 Solutions for industrial development and environmental protection in Quang Ninh

3.1 Solutions for Quang Ninh province

Frist, it is necessary to identify the strategic vision for socio-economic

development, industrial development and environmental protection in accordance with the specific time and conditions of the province

The current economic structure of Quang Ninh is highly dependent on the economic sectors that have a negative impact on the environment Therefore, the objective of developing industries is to reduce immediately pollution at the locality It is also the main objective of environmental protection The Executive Board of the Provincial Party Committee has chosen the 2018 activity theme as ―Protecting and improving the quality of the natural environment‖ In the medium term, strict regulations and requirements for environmental protection should be applied The vision to 2030 must be ―Gradually shifting the structure of economy from ‗brown‘ activities to ‗green‘ activities, giving priorities to develop service sector and non-mining industries, at the same time, ensuring coal mining operations cleaner and more sustainable‖ (5, 1)

Second, the province must choose the strategies of industrial development and

environmental protection that are shifted from ―brown‖ growth to ―green‖ growth For a long time, the development of the provincial economy has been largely due to the coal mining sector, construction materials industry and electricity generation industry, which is called ―brown growth‖ At the present, it is necessary to shift to ―green growth‖, which means developing such key industries as clean industries, supporting industries, processing industries and hi-tech industries which are more environmentally friendly; so the province will not have to choose between marine life and the steelmaking industry as the situation happened at the Formosa industrial park of Ha Tinh

Third, environmental management and protection must be a process of long-term,

continuous and synchronous efforts which are made in the direction of placing emphasis

on prevention - strictly controlling - actively overcoming the adverse effects of pollution

The province must give priorities to prevention of pollution by such measures as

making an overall assessment for the impact of investment projects on the environment; selecting advanced technology when reviewing projects, complying the promulgated steps and standards for new projects without lowering environmental barriers to attract the investment at any cost Besides, criteria should be completed and added to form the basis for approving the investment projects; so the danger of environmental pollution can be avoided

It is also necessary to develop and issue a set of local environmental standards to implement the roadmap of applying environmental standards of developed countries by 2020

Strictly control the environmental impact assessment and strengthen the supervision and control of the implementation of the commitments of the projects Establish a system

of automatic environmental monitoring in the province to regularly grasp the situation and take measures to handle in time Carry out environmental pollution control activities based

on new standards To sanction enterprises and units that violate environmental regulations

To review and supplement the strong sanctions to strictly handle environmental violations

It is essential to strictly control the environmental impact assessment and to increase the supervision of implementing the project commitments Moreover, the province must establish a system of automatic environmental monitoring to regularly follow the situation so that they will have any necessary measures to handle it punctually In addition, they should carry out environmental pollution control activities based on new standards The enterprises

or business units that violate the regulations must be imposed penalties

The consequences of environmental pollution and degradation in the past must be resolved Quang Ninh needs to actively study and to have each overall environmental

evaluation for the coal industry, electricity industry and construction materials industry to resolve the pollution caused by soil erosion, sedimentation from watershed areas of rivers and streams The province also needs to increase the investment in improving the environmental landscape, the water quality of rivers and streams flowing through residential areas which are affected heavily by dust, emission and wastewater from coal mining, electricity generation and construction materials production

Fourthly, it is necessary to have a complete planning for industrial parks and

clusters to classify the environment according to the level of each type of zone: conservation zone; positive environmental management zone; environmental improvement, rehabilitation zone and environmental development zone

Fifth, it is essential to apply the achievements of science and technology, especially

high technology and advanced environmental protection models of developed countries to the environmental protection and sustainable industrial development at the province Furthermore, it is important to study, apply, transfer clean and environmentally friendly technologies as well as cleaner manufacturing models in the mineral mining and processing Besides, waste treatment and recycling technologies must also be developed

Sixth, there must be an investment in the construction of technical infrastructure at

industrial parks and clusters to ensure that wastewater collection and treatment systems must be established before they come into operation

3.2 Solutions for production and business entities in the province

After all, production and business entities in the province have direct duties towards industrial development and environmental protection These enterprises need to step by step apply advanced technology to production in order to save resources as well as protect the environment They also must implement more effective waste management solutions to minimize negative impacts on the environment according to the 3R approach: Reduce-Reuse-Recycle

The enterprises manufacturing and exploiting minerals, especially coal, need to comply with the standard progress of production projects and to improve the environment badly affected by the coal exploitation, processing, transportation and consumption They should actively expand their production capacity by using more advanced technology,

diversify higher-value products and have better waste management to boost their competitiveness on the market

3.3 Proposals for related agencies

First, the Government, Ministries and branches should have a mechanism to combine

the content of socio-economic development with environmental protection at localities They should also have appropriate policies to encourage production and business entities in fully complying with regulations on environmental protection and clean technology

Second, it is important to strengthen the capacity of state environmental agencies in

building up a streamlined, appropriate and efficient environmental management apparatus; in planning, monitoring and reviewing the Green Growth Strategy; in evaluating and monitoring impacts on the environment to ensure the harmony between environmental protection and economic development; in inspecting and handling environmental law violations Besides, information about these violations of individuals, organizations and enterprises must be publicized on mass media in order to create public opinion and social pressures

Third, the coal and electricity industries must actively cooperate with the province

to implement plans of relocating manufacturing facilities out of residential areas; to overcome the consequences of air, water and soil pollution; and to ensure a healthy life

Fourth, it is essential to boost the education and dissemination of the law on

environmental protection and biodiversity in order to raise the awareness and responsibility

of people, organizations and enterprises Moreover, it is neccessary to promote the supervision role of communities to strongly condemn the environmental law violations

Bibliography

1 Quang Ninh Province‘s Statistical Office (2017), Quang Ninh Province‟s

Statistical Yearbook 2016, Hanoi Statistics Publishing House, pp 43-147

2 Quang Ninh People‘s Council (2016), Summary Report on socio-economic

development master plan for Quang Ninh province till 2020, with a vision toward 2030,

pp.1-83; 127-183

3 Quang Ninh Provincial Party Committee (2015), Resolution of the 14th

Congress of the Quang Ninh Provincial Party Committee in the 2015-2020 term, dated October 14 th 2015

4 Quang Ninh People‘s Council (2015), Resolution on policies and measures to

strengthen the management of environmental protection in Quang Ninh Province in the 2016-2020 term

5 Quang Ninh People‘s Council (2010), Resolution No 32/2010/NQ-HDND dated

2013; Approving the master plan on socio-economic development of Quang Ninh province

till 2020, with a vision toward 2030; pp.1-15

PROBLEMS OF SEA FISHING IN RANONG PROVINCE, THAILAND

Pawida Rungsee

pawida_r@kkumail.com

Prof Sekson Yongvanit*

sekyon@kku.ac.th Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences,

Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

*corresponding author

Abstract

This article has the objective of analyzing the problems of sea fishing in Ranong province, Thailand All documents used in this article are from literature review Ranong province is located in the upper part of southern Thailand, on the Andaman Sea, so the area is considered as being exceptional for sea fishing Analysis of the many documents regarding the problems of sea fishing in Ranong revealed many issues The government has tried to resolve the problems, without success, due to the complexity of the issues regarding the public management of sea fishing This paper presents a collaborative governance concept in order to resolve this problem with the involvement of all stakeholders Thailand‟s Fishing Act of 2015 AD sets a good trend for the future as it contains regulations concerning collaborative governance of sea fishing

Keywords: Sea Fishing, Ranong Province, Collaborative Governance

1 Importance of Fisheries in Thailand

Thailand has a total of 23 coastal areas, including 6 provinces on the Andaman coast and 17 provinces on the Gulf coast The coastline is 2,942.35 km in length Fisheries, especially sea fishing, have been around for a long time During the First National Economic Development Plan (1961-1966), Thailand was supported by foreigners in obtaining advanced fishing gear and technologies Thailand's fisheries were becoming more modern in terms of commercial fisheries and increasingly important According to the National Economic and Social Development Plan, No 6 (1987-1991), the Thai fisheries sector had a high level of fishery production, and ranked as one of the top ten in the world In 2014, the value of fisheries was calculated to account for 8 percent of Thai agriculture GDP Total output of fisheries in Thailand totaled 2.56 million tons, 1.67 million tons (65%) from fishing and 0.89 million tons (35%) from cultured fish The caught fish value was 1,938 million USD (43 percent) and the cultured fish value was 2,745.33 million USD (57%) The total value of fish exports in 2016 was 6,873.94 million USD

Thailand‘s major export markets include the United States, Japan, the European Union, and ASEAN (Department of Fisheries, 2017, 3-4) Thailand's fisheries are important as a source of food security for more than 2,500 local fishing communities

around the coast It is an important part of the economy as fishery products are exported, bringing in foreign currency for the country Furthermore, the fishing industry is also a strong source of employment, since there are about 172,430 fishermen (82% foreigners) employed, and about 515,000 people are employed in related industries, most of whom are women These industries include: aquatic animal processing, shipbuilding, canned and frozen fish products and fish meal production (Department of Fisheries, 2015)

2 Geography of Sea Fisheries in Ranong Province

Ranong Province is a major fishery area of Thailand and is located in the Upper

South, about 568 km from Bangkok The area covers about 3,324.60 square km, or about 2,141,250 rai, (4.7 percent of the southern region) It is the 11th largest province in the South and the 60th largest in the country

Fig.1 Ranong province maps

Source: https://th.wikipedia.org/

Topography

North and East adjacent to Chumphon Province

South adjacent to Phang Nga and Surat Thani Provinces

West adjacent to Kho Song island, Republic of the Union of Myanmar and the Andaman Sea

The geography of the province's fisheries is that it is located on the upper Andaman Sea, bordered by the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, where the Khmer River provides the border The coastline is about 151 km long, which is divided into two parts: 93 km long, and 58 km long Because the boundary line between Thailand and the Republic of the Union of Myanmar slopes down at about 45 degrees to Thailand, the fishing area in Ranong Province is quite limited, it is only about 1,377 square km Although Ranong