The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has completed a draft to submit to the Government to amend Decree 67, proposing solutions for fishermen who are in debt to banks because of loans to build ships.
"I was very emotional when I saw the images of fishermen who were honored in the past but now have to leave their homes due to bank debt collection," Minister Le Minh Hoan said when explaining to the National Assembly on November 20.
However, according to him, the transaction between banks and ship owners is a civil economy . The problem is very complicated and is not only the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, nor can it be solved by just one mechanism or policy of the Government.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan explained to the National Assembly on the morning of November 20. Photo: National Assembly Media
Having surveyed many localities, Minister Hoan found that not all fishermen cannot pay their debts. Some can pay but cannot, causing one person to lead another, waiting for each other.
"There are indeed ship owners who are in debt, but this is a matter between the bank and the ship owner. The revised Decree 67 aims to provide a solution where the ship owner is no longer able to sell the ship to someone else, the bank will restructure the debt," said Mr. Hoan.
Furthermore, the fishermen's collateral is the fishing boat, which is much different from the bank loan, so when the bank forecloses, the value of the boat is no longer the same as when it was first built. The fishermen want the bank to value the boat as when it was newly built, but the bank determines the actual value of the boat at the present time.
Therefore, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development suggested that Quang Nam province coordinate with the bank, sit down with each case of fishermen borrowing capital to find a solution. "We cannot have a comprehensive policy because there are people who need it but cannot access it while there are people who take advantage of the policy," the Minister said, adding that in reality, the selection of people participating in Decree 67 to build ships was not clear and transparent.
Previously, Deputy of the National Assembly delegation of Quang Nam province, Duong Van Phuoc, said that many fishermen in the province "are struggling to survive in a pile of bank debt" because they previously borrowed capital to build ships according to the Government's policy.
"In short, the debt that fishermen borrowed to build ships is now difficult to collect, becoming a burden, but the Government has not focused on resolving it," said Mr. Phuoc, adding that the Quang Nam Provincial Delegation has proposed that the National Assembly include the issue in the Resolution of the 2023 session, but the National Assembly Standing Committee explained that "this is the Government's business, so the Government must have a plan to resolve it."
Therefore, delegates from Quang Nam province hope that the Government and ministries will satisfactorily resolve voters' petitions, especially those that have been pending for many years.
Delegate Duong Van Phuoc and Minister Le Minh Hoan debated solutions for fishermen who owe banks money for borrowing money to build steel-hulled boats on the morning of November 20. Video: National Assembly Television
The policy of creating favorable conditions for fishermen to borrow capital to build large-capacity ships, go offshore, and develop fisheries was proposed by the Government in 2014, through Decree 67. Fishermen who build new steel-hulled ships, new-material ships with a total main engine capacity of 800 CV or more can borrow capital from commercial banks up to 95% of the total investment value of the new ship with an interest rate of 7%/year. Of which, the ship owner pays 1%/year, the state budget subsidizes 6%/year.
The program was implemented in many localities such as Binh Dinh, Quang Ngai, Quang Nam, Ha Tinh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue, Nghe An... However, steel-hulled boats were not effective in fishing, many boats were damaged, causing fishermen in many coastal provinces to be unable to pay their debts, many people had to sell their houses. Bad debts of commercial banks related to steel-hulled boats in each province amounted to hundreds of billions of VND. Many fishermen had their boats liquidated.
This issue was questioned by many delegates to the previous Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Cuong, but up to now, the debt of fishermen who borrowed capital to build ships has not been resolved.
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