Workers process tra fish at the An Do Duong seafood processing factory. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat said that Viet Nam's fisheries industry should use modern production techniques to improve its competitiveness. — VNA/VNS Photo Cong Mao

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Viet Nam's fisheries industry should better utilise modern production technologies to improve its competitiveness in the global market, said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Cao Duc Phat at a conference last Saturday.

The minister said that, though the fisheries industry made some remarkable achievements, it has performed less than expected, especially in applying the world's advanced technologies for the sector including the breeding.

He said that research institutions had not made the best use of the state budget to help developing the industry.

He stressed the importance of improving technology available to Vietnamese fishermen, who are responsible for 130,000 fishing boats at sea. However, Viet Nam has been importing fishing nets from Thailand and second-hand engines from Japan for its fishing boats.

Viet Nam's fisheries industry exploded in the last few decades. Pham Anh Tuan, MARD's Deputy Director of Fisheries Directorate, reported that export turnover increased from US$500 million in 1995 to $7.8 billion by 201

The country is now the world's third largest shrimp producer and among the top four exporters of fish and sea products in the world. Today, Vietnamese fishing products can be found in 170 markets around the globe.

However, Tuan said, despite the large budget the Government spent on the industry's programmes to study and apply new technologies, the results are insufficient, inconsistent and not advanced enough to solve problems in the industry.

He said the industry's technological level is still low and of poor quality. He said that companies are still unable to utilise high-tech applications to develop disease-resistant breeds, nor adapt to environmental changes.

In general, the country is under-achieving in technological development and few of the State-funded projects produced anything good enough to use in fishery production, said Tuan. — VNS