"It is totally possible that export turnover reaches $8 billion this year," Mr Nguyen Hoai Nam - Deputy General of VASEP said on the sidelines of the conference entitled "Trends in consumption of fishery products in the largest export market; fisheries in the future and social responsibility” organized by SGS in Can Tho city, reports VASEP.
The first nine months of 2014 witnessed surges in seafood exports. In which, shrimp exports reached $3 billion, up 42.3 per cent year on year while pangasius export value was $1.3 billion, up 0.2 per cent year on year. Mollusk exports reached $61 million, up 12.3 per cent and octopus exports reached $350 million, up 13.3 per cent year on year.
Mr Nam predicted that shrimp export value can reach approximately $4 billion, pangasius exports at $1.8 billion, tuna exports of over $480 million, bivalve exports at $80 million and other seafoods of about $1.2 billion.
Seafood exports therefore will account for six to seven per cent of total exports from Viet Nam, listing the industry in the top five exporting industries with the highest turnover, after electronics, apparel, crude oil and footwear.
There are 165 countries and territories importing seafood from Viet Nam. The US, EU, Japan, South Korea and the ASEAN countries are biggest importing markets.
Thailand, last year’s top seafood exporter has not overcome shrimp diseases and boycott due to the use of child labor in shrimp industry. The downturn of the biggest suppliers along with increase in market demand, stable domestic resources created fruitful results for Viet Nam’s seafood industry this year.
