Fisheries sector takes advantage of market opportunities to well recover

Processing aquatic product for export (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Aquatic product exporters have been advised to make the most of every market opportunity in the remaining months of this year to speedup the recovery process.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development(MARD), in recent months, the export of aquatic products has seen positive signals, which however are under expectations. The export turnover in the first eightmonths still decreased 25.4% against that of the same period last year, but the decline rate has slowed down from June.

Statistics from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exportersand Producers (VASEP) showed that the country shipped abroad some 846 millionUSD worth of aquatic products in August, much higher than that in previousmonths, pushing the eight-month value to 5.68 billion USD.

Given export difficulties in such major markets as the USand China, tra fish exporters are pinning their hope on smaller ones likeGermany, New Zealand, and Sweden, which have posted year-on-year increases of 25%, 17%,and 25% in revenue, respectively.

For shrimp exports, the value in the recent three months had increased remarkable compared to the first months of the year, particularly in the USmarket. Shrimp exports to the US and China saw growth for the first time in July after dropping for six consecutive months.   

Notably, Vietnam’s tuna exports to the RoK roseimpressively, exceeding 7 million USD in the first seven months of this year, a2.5-fold increase from the same period last year. Vietnam’s canned tunaaccounts for nearly 77% of the RoK's total import of this product.

Vietnam earns 846 million USD from exporting aquatic products in August (Photo: VNA)

VASEP General Secretary Truong Dinh Hoe stressed that themost important task for businesses at present is to maintain a highly skilledworkforce capable of meeting production requirements for the recovery period.

In the context of declines in the purchasing power of mainmarkets, businesses and associations have stepped up advertising and trade promotionto effectively exploit potential of each market, including small ones.

To seize opportunities for aquatic product exports, MARD DeputyMinister Phung Duc Tien said that his ministry has coordinated with provincesand cities to strengthen direction for aquaculture in the last months to ensuregrowth plans.

The ministry has directed the Vietnam Directorate of Fisheriesto soon organise a conference on fisheries development to graspmarket opportunities to reach a target of 10 billion USD in export revenue thisyear, he added./.

VNA