March 1, 2007

Vietnam posts gains in seafood exports

Vietnam earned US$431 million from shipping abroad seafood, including shrimps, prawns, catfish and octopuses in the first two months of 2007, a year- on-year rise of 25.7 percent.

Vietnam has targeted seafood export earnings of US$3.6 billion this year, up 7.1 percent against last year, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

It has set a target of annual seafood export growth of 9 percent in the 2006-2010 period, and export revenues of US$4 billion to US$4.5 billion in 2010.

The country is boosting export of different seafood items to traditional markets such as China, the United States, the European Union, Japan, Canada and South Korea, and some new ones like the Middle East, East Europe, Africa and South America.

Vietnam is also focusing on ensuring quality of the products, intensifying their trade promotion, building more seafood brand names, and enhancing its capacity of forecasting seafood prices and export demand, said the association.