January 18, 2007

Vietnam earmarks US$222.5 million for fisheries industry

The Ministry of Fisheries said that it would mobilize some 3.56 trillion VND or US$222.5 million to develop in aquatic product processing and trading from 2007 to 2010 period, reports the Vietnam News Agency.

The fund, wherein VND 253 billion came from the State Budget, will be spent on promoting brand names, tracking the origin of products, supervising, warning of impacts to environment, and preventing diseases in aquatic products.

The industry plans to focus on trade promotion and market research, and speed up its integration into the world market.

An aquatic product market network will also be established to facilitate the management of products, their quantity and quality, and food safety.

The industry sets a target as many as 100 enterprises processing aquatic products for export would meet its standards on food safety by 2010.