The new fishing vessel constructed under the Decree 67 has allowed Nguyen Hung from Tam Thanh commune in Phu Quy district to launch five trips to the traditional fishing grounds in the country’s Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago.
The fishing trips within three months earned him nearly VND600 million (over US$26,000).
Another fisherman, Chau Cuong, who also had a new fishing boat with Decree 67 loans, pocketed up to VND300 million (US$13,000) just after two offshore trips.
As of February this year, Binh Thuan enabled 130 fishermen to borrow money to build 107 new fishing boats, including 16 steel-covered ships, 83 wooden boats, and 8 composite vessels, and upgrade 23 ships.
The Binh Thuan branch of the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development has so far pledged about VND171 billion (over US$7.3 million) in loans for fishermen wishing to build new or upgrade their fishing vessels under Decree 67. To date, VND123 billion (US$5.3 million) has been disbursed and 17 ships have been launched.
This year, Binh Thuan targets to double the disbursement and the ships built under the decree.
The province is also implementing the Government Decree 89, valid from November 25, 2015, which looks to address roadblocks in fishermen’s ship building process regulated in Decree 67.