April 23, 2004

Vietnam Catfish Producers Look To Expand Markets
 

Vietnam catfish producers are looking to break into overseas markets. An Giang Province's Afasco Seafood Export Company has signed a contract with Germany's Binca Company to export basa catfish to Europe.

Under the contract, Afasco will rear the catfish on 3,000ha of water surface using "clean" technology to serve the European market. For a period of nine months, Afasco will export about 80 tons of basa catfish to this market monthly.

According to an Afasco representative, the whole procedure will be strictly controlled. This is the first clean basa catfish-breeding project in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.

If the cooperation model is successful, the European seafood market will open for Vietnamese exporters, said Nguyen Huu Khanh, Chairman of the An Giang Association of Seafood Producers and Exporters

Currently, exports of aquatic products in April raked in over USD155 million, a 2.02 percent increase over the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Fisheries.

At present, the price of catfish products for export is about USD3.6-3.7 per kg, 40 percent more than the same period last year. Vietnamese catfish products are currently sold in many countries around the world, including the US, Japan, Germany, England, Belgium, the Republic of Korea and Australia.