The 2017 Aquaculture Vietnam Exhibition and Conference (Aquaculture Vietnam) opened on Wednesday in Can Tho City, in response to increasing aquaculture production and rising demand worldwide for safe and high-quality seafood products.

Dao Anh Dung, vice chairman of Can Tho City’s People’s Committee, stated at the conference yesterday that despite immense growth opportunities, the nation’s aquaculture industry still suffers from some setbacks in terms of diseases, regressions and climate change.

Therefore, the need for technological transfers, scientific breakthroughs and high-tech innovations in aqua-farming is urgent and evident for Viet Nam’s seafood production to improve its value addition and integrated production chain towards international standards, he concluded.

This year’s conference hopes to provide an international business and education platform, focusing on technologies, innovations and solutions for aquaculture farming in Viet Nam, covering key exports such as shrimps and catfish, especially in the Mekong Delta region.

The conference continues until October 27, featuring concurrent speeches and panel discussions by aquaculture experts from research institutions and companies in Viet Nam and other countries.

Some notable topics of discussion during this year’s Aquaculture Vietnam expo include the development of a seafood value chain, export potential for Vietnamese catfish and addressing corporate social responsibility within the domestic aquaculture industry.

Vo Hung Dung, vice president of the Vietnam Pangasius Association, said at the conference he believed it was a crucial promotion opportunity to introduce new practical technologies to farmers and showcase a thriving domestic aquaculture market.

Agreeing with Dung, Sylvain Paul Lacladere, Bayer Vietnam Ltd.’s country head of animal health, expressed his hope to provide the best solutions for disease control in aqua-farming, as well as to discuss possible cooperation with Vietnamese aquaculture industry professionals at 2017 Aquaculture Vietnam.

Hosted by the Directorate of Fisheries (DoF) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), 2017 Aquaculture Vietnam is being held at the Can Tho International Exhibition Fair Centre. It is one of the country’s most important trade shows and an international meeting place for 70 exhibitors and hundreds of representatives from the aquaculture industry in the region and across the globe.

Aquaculture is considered a spearhead industry for Viet Nam’s economy, with annual export turnover reaching billions of US dollars, generating millions of employment opportunities and contributing to stabilising the national socio-economic scene.

Tran Dinh Luan, deputy director of DoF, commented that the country should invest more heavily in technological development, advanced production and management methods to improve productivity, quality and sanitation in the aqua-farming process.

According to Luan, the aquaculture industry is clearly important in establishing the country’s name and image in the world market.

Data from MARD shows that in 2016, Vietnamese seafood export turnover increased by 7.4 per cent from 2015, reaching US$7.05 billion and accounting for 24 per cent of national agricultural related exports.

By the third quarter of 2017 alone, total output for the aquaculture industry was four million tonnes, increasing four per cent from the same period last year.

The Mekong Delta region is home to 52 per cent of total seafood and 67 per cent of total farmed aquaculture products, clocking in at 65 per cent total exported value. Can Tho, in particular, is the chief producer of seafood with total output of 199,817 tonnes in 2016. — VNS