January 25, 2007

Vietnam to export more catfish in 2007

Vietnam is expected to export over US$1 billion worth of tra and basa, two most common types of catfish in the country this year, up from over US$700 million last year, according to Saigon Liberation newspaper. 

Vietnam will record an output of some 1 million tonnes of tra and basa this year, up from 800,000 tonnes last year, the newspaper quoted Ngo Phuoc Hau, chairman of the Freshwater Fish Committee under the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, as saying.

Vietnam earned nearly US$3.4 billion from exporting different kinds of seafood in 2006, up 23.1 percent against 2005. It has targeted an annual seafood export growth of over 9 percent in the 2006-2010 period.

Vietnam is boosting export of different seafood items, including shrimps, prawns, catfish and octopuses to traditional markets such as China, the United States, the European Union, Japan and South Korea, and some new ones like the Middle East, East Europe, Africa and South America.

The country is also focusing on increasing quality of the products, intensifying their trade promotion, and enhancing its capacity of forecasting seafood prices and export demand, according to Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers.