March 8, 2006

Vietnam wants to aid India in seafood sector

Vietnam has offered assistance to West Bengal to develop its seafood sector as Indian businessmen expressed interest in Vietnam's booming seafood industry.

West Bengal exports close to 15 percent of the seafood in India. The value of seafood exported in Vietnam is twice that of India.

Indian seafood company director Rajarshi Banerji said that crab hatcheries are very developed in Vietnam and crab cultivation has potential to change the aquaculture landscape in India.

India intends to leverage Vietnam's location advantage in the ASEAN region while Vietnam has expressed interest in collaborating in the bio-technology and education sector.

Indian exported US$598.80 million to Vietnam in 2005 while imports stood at US$97.10 million.