September 6, 2007

Vietnam's seafood export up 14.1 percent to US$2.4 billion

Vietnam's seafood export earnings were up 14.1 percent year-on-year to nearly US$2.4 billion dollars from January to August, according to the country's General Statistics Office on Wednesday (September 5).

In August alone, Vietnam earned US$370 million from frozen shrimp, catfish and octopus.

Vietnam's aquaculture sector turned out nearly 1.1 million tonnes of the products in the first eight months of this year, a year-on- year increase of 12 percent, according to the Agricultural Economy Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Meanwhile, the country caught nearly 1.5 million tonnes of seafood in nature, up 45 percent.

Vietnam, whose seafood export earnings surged 23.1 percent to nearly 3.4 billion dollars in 2006, has targeted an annual seafood export growth of over 9 percent in the 2006-2010 period.