Vietnam’s central city of Da Nang will host the fifth East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress in November next year, the Vietnamese government portal said Wednesday on its website.

The event, guided by theme “Global Targets - Local Benefits: Setting the Sustainable Development Agenda for the Seas of East Asia beyond 2015,” is scheduled to take place next year from November 17 to 21.

It will include the 5th Ministerial Forum and Senior Government Officials' Meeting (SGOM), an East Asian sea cooperation council meeting, an East Asian sea youth forum, an international seminar on water resources, a coastal and ocean sustainable management forum, and an environment exhibition with the participation of international organizations.

On the occasion, Da Nang will also host the Network of Local Governments for Sustainable Coastal Development of the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) on November 16.

The EAS Congress is held every three years in PEMSEA member countries. It was held in Malaysia in 2003, China in 2006, the Philippines in 2009, and the Republic of Korea in 2012.

The 2015 event will be jointly organized by PEMSEA, the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, and the Da Nang People’s Committee.

PEMSEA managing director Adrian Stephen Ross was quoted by the Da Nang portal as saying that the EAS Congress will be a chance for the city to introduce the integrated coastal zone management demonstration project, which has been deployed since 2000, to both local and foreign visitors.

The EAS Congress serves as platform for knowledge sharing, partnership building and collaborative planning in support of a common vision of sustainable development for the Seas of East Asia, PEMSEA said on its website.

Since its launch in 2003, the triennial EAS Congress has established a reputation as an intellectual marketplace and a premier international conference on coastal and ocean development and governance in the East Asian Seas region.