Promoting solidarity, creativity, actively collaborating, overcoming hardships, over the past years, the Vietnam Coast Guard (VCG) has successfully accomplished its task of safeguarding national sovereignty, sovereign rights, jurisdiction, resources, environment, security, order and safety within the country’s seas and islands. Besides, it has also implemented thoroughly international treaties  in which Vietnam has been a signatory or involved.

Major Generam Nguyen Van Son chairing a review on criminal countering (Photo: Vietnam Coast Guard)

The VCG  has  a wide area of responsibility, and operates in cruel environment,  dealing with a variety of objects, vehicles (both domestic and overseas) and dangerous situations both to the lives of cadres and troops and to the national sovereignty and security at  sea. Therefore, its party committee and headquarters hold that implementing law education and propagation to enhance law enforcement capability for cadres and troops is an important solution to fulfill the assigned tasks.

For the effective implementation, the party committee of the VCG has drawn out a specialized resolution on law propagation and education. The resolution has pointed out the aims, requirements, contents, methods of implementation and responsibilities of agencies, cadres and party members. Annually, its party committee and headquarters pays attention to consolidating, promoting the role of its council for coordination in law propagation and education as to propose, guide, and supervise the task as well as heighten the responsibility of key cadres of its units. On the basis of the tasks and contents of law propagation and education and the resolution of the upper level, the council coordinates with functional agencies, party committees, commissar, junior commissar, commanders at all levels in briefing, building plan and method, agree on focal contents for propagation in accordance with functions and missions of each unit and object. In particular, focus has been directed to raising the awareness of cadres and troops, especially those directly involve in law enforcement on seas, of the contents in resolutions, directives of the Party, State, the military and of the party committee and headquarters of the VCG; of the functions, missions of the military , VCG, and of each unit and individual; legal documents relating to their operations, etc., so that their actions are legally based. Besides, the unit has also actively propose with upper level, coordinated with functional agencies of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Propagation and Education to compile and publish the two books entitled “Vietnamese seas and islands” and “Things fishermen need to know in fishery activities” and provided them to units as documents for educating troops, propagating fishermen and other individuals operating on sea. Attention has been paid to training to improve knowledge, expertise, martial art, method for race coordination, supervise and control, incident settling ability for groups on operation.

In order that cadres and troops, particularly those working on sea, are deeply imbued with legal knowledge, party committees and commanders at all levels attach importance to diversifying model and method of propagation and education to suit each object. To create the synergy in propagation, its headquarters has ordered the junior units to coordinate with functional agencies, ministries, localities, the Navy, Border Guard, Fishery Surveillance, etc., in propagating about the role and importance of seas and islands to the cause of Homeland construction and protection; legal documents on seas, functions and missions of the VCG , particularly protecting the sovereignty and preventing and controlling drug, pirate and smuggling.

In the coming time, the mission set out for VCG becomes evermore challenging. Therefore, its party committee and headquarters have agreed on continuing to lead, direct and implement a number of solutions to enhance the quality and effectiveness of law propagation and education for the entire force as a way to improve the law enforcement capability for cadres and troops, contributing to maintain a peaceful and stable environment at  sea, firmly safeguarding sea and island sovereignty of the country.

Major General Nguyen Van Son

Deputy Commander of the Vietnam Coast Guard