May 22, 2012

Vietnamese local bank gives loan to pangasius fish exporters

About VND2 trillion-3 trillion (US$96 million-144 million) has been pledged by the Vietnam Development Bank (VDB) with preferential interest rates for local pangasius fish exporters, state media reported Monday (May 21).

The move is aimed to help Vietnamese pangasius fish processors ease financial shortage, which forced them to scale down their production.

Last year, VDB lent a total of VND5 trillion (US$240 million) to local pangasius fish processors, compared to VND6 trillion (US$288 million) in 2010 and VND7 trillion (US$336 million) in 2009.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, 136 local pangasius fish firms are lacking of financial resources, having no money to buy material to implement signed export contracts.

As many as 20 processors with daily capacity of fewer than 30 tonnes are in losses, the association said.

Along with financial shortage, Vietnamese pangasius fish exporters are facing material shortages. Low prices of the fish have discouraged farmers to keep their breeding fields.

Pangasius fish is a key seafood product for Vietnam. The country targets to export the fish worth US$2 billion in 2012 versus US$1.8 billion in 2011.