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| Workers process shrimp at the Ca Mau Frozen Seafood Processing Import Export Corp. Total seafood export is expected to reach $7 billion this year. — VNA/VNS Photo Duy Khuong |
HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The Viet Nam Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) association predicted total seafood exports would reach some US$7 billion in 2014, a 5 per cent increase over 2013.
The imports will include $3.5 billion from shrimp exports, $1.7 billion from tra fish, $450 million from tuna, and $470 million from squid and octopus.
Of note, at a VASEP conference in HCM City on Thursday, business insiders said, for the first time VASEP witnessed a 10 per cent decrease in its membership, as difficulties and risks have forced some businesses to go bankrupt, reported the Tin tuc newspaper.
Officials asked managerial agencies to issue concrete regulations on aquaculture and more favourable policies to assist their operations.
Nguyen Thi Thu Sac, general director of the Hai Nam Ltd Company, said domestic seafood companies have often faced difficulties in purchasing materials due to competition with Chinese traders, as they must import materials.
Therefore, she said the state should put in place policies on attracting capital for developing material regions and encouraging fishermen to increase their volumes of exploiting seafood products.
Also, the association said Viet Nam's aquatic exports have been recovering in the first five months of 2014, with a year-on-year increase of 21 per cent in value to $2.86 billion.
Reports at the conference said the shipment of shrimp had brought home revenues of $1.4 billion, jumping a huge 63 per cent from the same period last year, and accounting for 49 percent of the total aquatic exports.
Notably, the value of shrimp destined for the US, the Republic of Korea and Switzerland soared by 120 per cent, 108 per cent, and 109 per cent, respectively.
Over the same period, the shrinkage of tra fish farming areas and output, as well as falling demand from EU countries and the US, cut this commodity's turnover by 7.6 per cent to $655 million.
Meanwhile, a 23 per cent drop was seen in earnings from exported tuna, standing at $195 million, due to a fall in the shipment to some key markets, such as the US, Japan and the EU.
At the same time, Viet Nam gained $172 million from the export of squid and octopus, rising 8.5 per cent from one year before.
VASEP officials said, under a fisheries development strategy until 2020 approved by the Prime Minister, that Viet Nam targets $8 billion in aquatic exports in 2015 and $10 billion in 2020. — VNS