January 11, 2012

Amid global economic recession, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said that the country needs to build better planning for aquaculture, apply advanced technologies and strictly control food safety and hygiene to promote seafood export.

The association predicts that the Vietnamese seafood export will face challenges this year as the demand for Vietnam-sourced shrimp in the European markets will not be high and Vietnam-produced pangasius fish to the bloc will likely decrease as the euro zone economic crisis deepens.

So Vietnam has to implement measures in production in order to produce seafood meeting food hygiene and safety requirements from importing countries, the VASEP said.

The country's seafood sector also needs support from the government to overcome shortages of capital and material resources, the association said.

Despite of such difficulties, VASEP projects that the country's seafood exports will keep rising to earn some US$6.5 billion this year compared to US$6.11 billion in 2011.