The United States will provide $12.5 million to Vietnam to enhance its maritime law enforcement capabilities and combat illegal fishing, the U.S. embassy in Hanoi said on Thursday.

The assistance package includes support for Vietnamese maritime law enforcement agencies, the donation of small boats and the development of training facilities, it said.

Vietnam's neighbors and trade partners have urged it for years to take greater action against illegal fishing practices, including by Vietnamese vessels in the waters of neighboring countries.

The European Union has long threatened a ban on fish imports from Vietnam if no concrete progress is achieved to prevent the illegal fishing. That has had the effect of reducing significantly Vietnam's fish exports to the EU, one of its largest markets.

The Southeast Asian country also often clashes with China over boundaries in the South China Sea, with skirmishes involving coastguard vessels, fishermen and other law enforcement ships on both sides.

"The United States supports a free and open Indo-Pacific and a strong, prosperous, independent, and resilient Vietnam," the U.S. embassy said in its statement.