{"id":1404,"date":"2026-07-28T09:35:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T00:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/?post_type=industry_news&p=1404"},"modified":"2026-07-28T09:35:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T00:35:00","slug":"khanhhoa-cage-subsidy","status":"publish","type":"industry_news","link":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/en\/industry_news\/khanhhoa-cage-subsidy\/","title":{"rendered":"Wait two years and your own share rises 2.3-fold: reading the design of Khanh Hoa's cage subsidy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The People's Council of Khanh Hoa province in south-central Vietnam has passed an ordinance subsidizing the cost of switching marine aquaculture cages from traditional materials such as wood to HDPE and FRP. It takes effect from July 19, 2026 to the end of 2029, funded by the provincial budget. What catches the eye is less the figure of up to 395 million dong (about JPY 2.44 million) per recipient than the way it is distributed. Within 3 nautical miles of the coast it covers 50% of the purchase cost, 3 to 6 nautical miles 70%, and from 2028 it drops to a flat 30% for any waters. For Japanese buyers handling Khanh Hoa lobster and saltwater fish, this table reads less as a subsidy notice than as a timetable of where the production area will move over the next four years.<\/p>\n

What the ordinance decided is not the amount but 'where and when'<\/h2>\n

Eligibility covers individuals as well as small organizational forms such as cooperatives, cooperation groups, linkage groups and trade associations, limited to those using new-material cages such as HDPE or FRP inside aquaculture zones designated by the provincial plan or the provincial People's Committee. The grant is one-time only. Anyone who has already received a cage-purchase subsidy under another program or policy is excluded. In addition, a cage-aquaculture confirmation certificate<\/strong>(Giay xac nhan nuoi trong thuy san long be) and a full set of invoices and vouchers for the cage purchase are required. The passage of the ordinance itself is as previously reported (Ditching wooden rafts for HDPE cages: Khanh Hoa's bid for typhoon-resilient marine aquaculture<\/a>); what has been finalized this time is the amount table carried within it.<\/p>\n

The originating agriculture and environment paper's article carries no comment from administrative officials. The byline is reporter Phuong Chi, and all it conveys is the content of the provisions. So this scheme can only be read from the arrangement of the numbers, not from anyone's remarks. And the arrangement of the numbers turned out to be more eloquent than expected.<\/p>\n

Work back from the ceiling amounts and a reference price per cage emerges<\/h2>\n

Let us divide the three categories back out using the relationship between the rate and the ceiling. Within 3 nautical miles it is 50% with a ceiling of 282 million dong, so the assumed purchase cost is 564 million dong. For 3 to 6 nautical miles it is 70% with a ceiling of 395 million dong, which divides back out to 564.29 million dong. From 2028 it is 30% with a ceiling of 170 million dong, which also comes to 566.67 million dong. All three 564 million to 567 million dong (about JPY 3.48 million to 3.50 million)<\/strong> fall within that very narrow band.<\/p>\n

In other words, the province is not subsidizing according to how much a cage actually cost. It sets a single reference unit price and varies only the rate applied to it. It is not helping with the price of the equipment, but putting a price on where and when it is installed<\/strong>-- that is the point.<\/p>\n

From the farmer's side, this design bounces straight back onto the out-of-pocket amount. Renewing now within 3 nautical miles means paying about JPY 1.74 million out of pocket. Going farther out than 3 nautical miles brings it down to about JPY 1.05 million. But wait until 2028 to buy the same cage and, because the rate drops to 30%, the out-of-pocket swells to about JPY 2.45 million -- 2.3 times the cost of going offshore. It is less a subsidy than a discount with an expiry date.<\/p>\n

The way the budget is split reveals the province's estimate of '30 operators offshore'<\/h2>\n

The total for 2026-2029 is about 59.29 billion dong (about JPY 366 million). Of that, about 45.69 billion dong (about JPY 282 million) is reported to go to about 150 households in 2026-2027, and 13.6 billion dong (about JPY 84 million) to about 80 households in 2028-2029.<\/p>\n

The latter figures are easy to read. Divide 13.6 billion dong by 80 households and you get exactly 170 million dong -- matching the Phase 2 ceiling without being off by a single dong. The budget is households x ceiling amount<\/strong> and can be read as having been put together straightforwardly.<\/p>\n

Apply the same yardstick to Phase 1. If all 150 households were within 3 nautical miles, 42.3 billion dong would suffice on paper, but the actual appropriation is 45.69 billion dong. Divide the difference of 3.39 billion dong by the 113 million dong gap between the coastal and offshore ceilings and it divides evenly to give 30. It is only an estimate on the assumption that everyone receives up to the ceiling, but the province's Phase 1 projection is about 30 recipients at 3 to 6 nautical miles, with the remaining roughly 120 within 3 nautical miles<\/strong> emerges as the allocation. While flying a generous rate of 70%, the share it actually expects to go offshore is 20%.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Period<\/th>\nSea area<\/th>\nSubsidy rate<\/th>\nCeiling per recipient<\/th>\nYen conversion<\/th>\nApproximate out-of-pocket<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
2026-2027<\/td>\nWithin 3 nautical miles<\/td>\n50%<\/td>\n282 million dong<\/td>\nabout JPY 1.74 million<\/td>\nabout JPY 1.74 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2026-2027<\/td>\n3 to 6 nautical miles (including zones straddling the 3-nautical-mile line)<\/td>\n70%<\/td>\n395 million dong<\/td>\nabout JPY 2.44 million<\/td>\nabout JPY 1.05 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2028-2029<\/td>\nWithin 6 nautical miles (no sea-area distinction)<\/td>\n30%<\/td>\n170 million dong<\/td>\nabout JPY 1.05 million<\/td>\nabout JPY 2.45 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

The subsidy rate, ceiling amounts and period are per the Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Council ordinance. Yen conversions use JPY 1 = about 162 dong. The out-of-pocket amounts are rough estimates premised on the reference unit price of 564 million to 567 million dong worked back from the ceilings.<\/small><\/p>\n

What the 70% is buying is a density of 25.5 tonnes per hectare<\/h2>\n

Why add as much as 20 points for offshore alone? The clue is in Prime Minister's Decision 231\/QD-TTg of January 24, 2025. This decision, which approved a trial of high-technology marine aquaculture in Khanh Hoa, sets a target of 440 hectares and 8,700 tonnes by 2029, divided by sea area. Within 3 nautical miles is 240 hectares and over 3,600 tonnes; 3 to 6 nautical miles is 200 hectares and over 5,100 tonnes.<\/p>\n

Converted to a per-area basis the gap is clear. The coast is 15 tonnes per hectare, offshore 25.5 tonnes. Offshore takes 1.7 times as much from the same area<\/strong> is how it is designed. The premise that using HDPE cages in waters with waves and tidal flow can raise stocking density and growth is woven into the target figures. The province pays 70% offshore because it is buying this productivity gap, not the price of the material.<\/p>\n

Conversely, the 50% within 3 nautical miles of the coast is not an investment to increase output. It is closer to a cost for replacing the overcrowded rafts inside the bay with a material that will not be swept away by typhoons. Two subsidies of different character coexist within the same ordinance.<\/p>\n

What the side that created the scheme has stated publicly so far<\/h2>\n

The ordinance notice carries no remarks, but there are figures who have stated positions around this policy. At the announcement of the trial plan held in Nha Trang in March 2025, Dinh Van Thieu, vice chairman of the Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee, is reported to have said that, in addition to cage conversion, support measures including insurance and preferential financing would be put in place. The subsidy was thus conceived as one of a three-piece set.<\/p>\n

At the same event, Vice Minister Phung Duc Tien was reported to have expressed the view that Khanh Hoa would be a model for other coastal localities. Since the trial framework itself is built on the premise of nationwide rollout, this subsidy table could become a template that other provinces reference as is.<\/p>\n

There is also a track record on the ground. In the waters of Cam Lap commune, Cam Ranh city, 10 households have since May 2023 combined HDPE cages with underwater cameras to raise lobster and fish, and a June 2024 review found profits higher than with conventional wooden cages. The Thien Tam Fund, part of Vingroup, was involved in this trial, and the groundwork has been laid by three parties: the administration, a private foundation and aquaculture households. This ordinance can be positioned as the budget measure to expand those 10 households to 150.<\/p>\n

What Japanese sourcing should watch over these four years<\/h2>\n

What this scheme brings the Japanese side, ahead of supply volume itself, is that the labor of screening drops. Subsidized farmers all, by definition, meet the following conditions.<\/p>\n