Vietnamese seafood industry, heavily dependent on fish farming, says it is confident of hitting its government’s export target of US $6.5 billion this year.
Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, said the industry expected to earn $2.5 billion from shrimp exports alone because global demand, especially in large markets like Japan, the US, mainland China, and South Korea, continued to be very high.
Speaking at a review meeting in HCM City he said that if the targets were to be met, the industry had to adopt measures to overcome challenges like the shortage of materials for processing and to improve quality, food hygiene and safety and expand export markets, he said.
The Exporters and Producers Association chair, Tran Thien Hai, was somewhat more cautious, warning that the on-going economic crisis could affect global seafood demand, while importing countries could increase food hygiene and safety requirements.
There were also some worries that the seafood sector could run short of development capital.
He said that increasing the market share would be a big challenge, and businesses must prepared to face some of the challenges that lay ahead. The association said it has sought government support for setting up a quality control system for the whole production chain and implementing trade promotion programmes in overseas markets.
The United States is a major market for Vietnam which is also is a major exporter of pangasius to the UK and Europe, where it is frequently used by processors as a cheaper alternative to cod and haddock