To reach the target, the industry will develop the ability to forecast demand and prices on export markets and collect information about those markets for Vietnamese exporters and farmers, Nguyen Thi Hong Minh, fisheries deputy minister said.
The industry will build and advertise national trademarks of its three main seafood products of shrimp, catfish and tuna, she said. It will provide technical and financial support for provincial trademark advertising programs.
The sector will help enterprises and aquaculture farmers attain high capacity, hygiene and safety standards.
Also, the country's seafood industry will focus on the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Africa and South America in a bid to expand current export markets. This year the industry is seeking to export US$2.6 billion worth of seafood this year, up 8.7 per cent from last year, an official of the Ministry of Fisheries said yesterday. Export volumes were 2.8 million tons of seafood last year
Deputy Fisheries Minister Nguyen Thi Hong Minh revealed that the industry will also build and advertise national trademarks of its three main seafood products of shrimp, catfish and tuna.
Shrimp still earned the largest export value, accounting for 52 percent of the total. This is followed by catfish, which accounted for 12.5 percent. Meanwhile, cuttlefish and octopus were at 6.7 per cent of the total and dried sea-products made up 4.2 percent.
For last year, Japan was the leading buyer of Vietnamese seafood, accounting for 31.4 percent of Vietnam's seafood export with export values reaching US$680 million from last January to November, an increase of 31.2 percent from the same period of the last year. The US was second 24.1 percent, followed by the EU at 9.9 percent according to the ministry's report.
The value from EU exports jumped by 88 per cent to US$215 million, from ASEAN countries by 28.3 per cent to US$153 million, and from South Korea by 29.3 per cent to US$126 million.
However, the value to the US earned only $522.5 million, a 27.7 percent drop from the previous year. The numbers to mainland China and Hong Kong also plunged by 14.6 percent to $117 million.
Aquatic products were shipped to 80 countries and territories, with the US being the largest market, followed by the European Union, mainland China, and Hong Kong.
Basa catfish and shrimp lawsuits affected total export value last year, Minh said, but lower tariffs after the shrimp law suit could bring an advantage to Vietnam's fisheries sector this year.
Source: eFeedLink - 19th January 2005
