|
Seafood exports hit $320m in January
The country's seafood exports topped US$320 million in January, up 2.3 per cent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Directorate of Fisheries.
Seafood producers were encouraged by the news after previous warnings indicated they would face difficulties this year, it said, adding that Japan, South Korea, mainland China, Hong Kong and Germany remained key importers of Vietnamese seafood products.
Experts predicted that the domestic seafood industry had a chance to reach the $5 billion export goal set for this year because the world's seafood demand was forecast to increase sharply while some other exporting countries were experiencing depleting fishery supplies.
In order to improve export value, the ministry suggested the sector to make adequate investment in qualified and hygienic breeding to ensure sufficient supply and to further develop key products such as shrimp, tra and tuna.
Adequate overseas trade promotion, effective market predictions and closer links among domestic seafood processors were also necessary, it said.
Viet Nam's seafood exports ranked sixth among the world's 10 leading seafood exporters and fifth in Asia behind China, India, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Last year, the country's seafood export value reached $4.94 billion, an increase of 16.3 per cent on the previous year's figure. Results could be attributed to the Government's policies that support fishermen and encourage them to use modern processing and preservation technology.
The fishing industry aims to increase production by 8-10 per cent per year and to export 6.5-7 million tonnes of seafood worth $8-9 billion by 2020, under a development strategy approved recently by the Prime Minister.
Under the plan, which would require an estimated VND57.4 trillion ($2.9 billion), the industry would be industrialised and developed to increase output, improve quality and enhance competitiveness.
vietnamnews
|
