To this end, the city will focus on enhancing product quality to meetfood safety requirements and diversifying export products, said DuongDinh Hiep, deputy head of the department.
Togetherwith expanding the application of international quality standards inaquaculture farms, the city will concentrate on brand-buildingactivities and calling for more businesses to invest in top-to-endproduction chains, said Hiep.
Farming areas to theVietGAP and Global GAP standards will be expanded to double the current500 hectares, while quality control will be tightened at 12,000 otherhectares, Hiep revealed.
As part of efforts to easeraw material shortage, the locality plans to buy over 100,000 tonnes ofshrimp and tra fish from the neighbouring provinces of Ca Mau, KienGiang, Bac Lieu, Soc Trang, An Giang and Dong Thap, he said.
Hiep added that this solution is expected to raise the proportion ofhigh-quality aquatic products to 22 percent out of total 160,000 tonnesprojected to be exported in 2015, meeting the needs of tough customersin Europe, North America, Oceania and Japan .
According to the department, in the first 10 days of 2015, the cityshipped abroad 4,400 tonnes of aquatic products for 13.3 million USD, up1.7 percent over the same time last year.
Data fromthe city’s Department of Investment and Planning showed that in 2014,despite technical barriers and trade disputes initiated by foreignpartners, the city exported 140,000 tonnes of aquatic products worth 420million USD, an increase of 9 percent year on year.
The results pushed Can Tho’s total export revenue in the year to 1.35billion USD, the highest recorded by a Mekong Delta locality.-VNA