September 4, 2006

 

Norway identifies opportunities in Vietnam's seafood industry

 

 

Even as Vietnam exports its way to become the 6th largest seafood exporting country world-wide, rapid growth has brought its fishing and aquaculture industry a multitude of problems, according to a Norwegian fishing industry website.

 

The breakneck pace of development seen in the Mekong delta in Vietnam, one of the main sources of seafood from the country, has exposed problems such as the lack of modern farming infrastructure, lack of specie diversification and shortage of raw materials for processors, according to eksportaktuelt.com.

 

Vietnam's heightened profile in the seafood industry has presented opportunities for Norwegian companies to share their expertise with their Vietnamese counterparts in Vetfish 2006, held from Jun 14th-16th this year in Ho Chi Minh City, with attendance by 131 exhibitors from 15 countries.   

 

This was followed by a study tour arranged by Innovation Norway in Hanoi. 

 

During the 3-hour seminar of Vetfish 2006, the audience was guided through urgent needs for Vietnam¡¯s fishery sector and immediate solutions for sustainable aquaculture development. In return, Innovation Norway has received enquiries from Vietnamese companies and research institutes to act as a contacting point to Norwegian companies and vice versa, sowing the seeds for future cooperation.

 

The 2-day study tour by Innovation Norway also helped Norwegian participants gain an insight into Vietnam's processing industry in the Mekong Delta.

 

The processors received high praise from Norwegian participants as factories were able to operate efficiently despite the large labour pool required ( from 1,000 to 2,000 per shift). Factories are also equipped with high-tech equipment imported from EU and Japan. Equipment for filleting- and production lines were mainly locally produced.

 

Fish feeds used in the aquaculture industry were mainly from foreign companies operating in Vietnam such as French Proconco, US Cargill, Thai's CP, Taiwanese Uni President.

 

The Norwegian study has noted that Vietnam's marine fish farming industry is still very small, with estimated 15,000 tonnes annual production.

 

The study also concluded that The Ministry of Fisheries' ambitious goal to produce 200,000 tonnes of marine farmed fish within 2010, would be difficult to meet.  70,000 tonnes would be a more realistic figure, the report suggested.

 

The study also concluded that now would be the right time for Norwegian fish farmers, equipment producers, feed producers, investors, and other suppliers to the marine farming value chain to enter the Vietnamese marine fish farming market.

 

The main opportunities identified were: health products and vaccine suppliers, service providers and consultants, aqua feed development and utilisation of fish surplus, suppliers to the processing industry and high quality imported seafood products.

 

Another relatively untouched area in Vietnam's fishing industry is  advanced aquaculture systems, fish handling systems, and traceability.

 

Norway, as an advanced technology nation, should have good opportunities in bringing new production concepts to Vietnam, the study concluded.