Vietnam eyes sharp growth in seafood exports

Vietnam has set a goal to attain a combined turnover of US$16 billion from agricultural, forestry and seafood exports this year, an increase of US$700 million.

Since January 1, export prices for these goods have risen, but import markets are not seeing a stronger recovery, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

This year, seafood exports should reach US$4.5 billion, an increase of US$200 million over last year, but the industry will see an increase of 10-15% in expenditures for salaries, materials and packaging.

According to experts, high interest-rate loans will be the main reason to restrict growth of the industry. Last year, seafood companies only paid 0.53% per month, but this year the figure has tripled to 1.5% per month.