August 13, 2018

Vietnam to become a major market player ofthe aquaculture sector by 2050

Vietnam is currently rankedas the fourth-largest producer of seafood from aquaculture, behind China, Indonesia and India.

Last year, the country produced a totalof 7.23 million tonnes of seafood, among which, farmed seafood makes up for more than 53%, totalling to 3.84 million tonnes. The figures tabulated an increase of 5.2% year-on-year as compared to the production value in 2016.

As Vietnam's aquaculture sector continues to flourish, the local government and industry stakeholders have recently invested more interest on the development of the industry, Tran Dinh Luan, deputy director of Vietnam's Fisheries General Department, said during a workshop in Hanoi, in early July.

Co-organised by the Vietnam Seaculture Association, Vietnam's Fisheries General Department and the US Soybean Export Council (USSEC), the workshop focused on Vietnam's draft national strategy for marine aquaculture development through 2030.

The strategic planning, which consisted an addendum that proposes a vision through 2050,was prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and will be submitted to Vietnam's Prime Minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc for final approval.

As part of the plan, Vietnam intends to implement several policies on a trial basis to encourage industrial sea farming, particularly in offshore areas, by 2020. It aims to double the seafood farming output to 750,000 MT in total, comprising 200,000 MT of fish, 400,000 MT of mollusks and 150,000 MT of seaweed.

Luan explained, "While sea farming in Vietnam is still at its early stages of development, the strategy is designed to develop the whole production chain of the sector at a larger and more advanced level. In its latter stages of execution, the plan calls for production rise to 1.75 million MT by 2030 and to 3 million MT by 2050."

If the programme materialises, Vietnam can gain up to US$1.5 billion from its farmed marine product exports by 2020. The total is estimated to increase between US$5 billion - US$8 billion by 2030 and more than US$10 billion by 2050.

According to the draft, the country aims to become a leading player in Southeast Asia and Asia in the marine aquaculture sector and eventually be ranked amongst the top five countries in the world in terms of output and value of farmed marine product exports by 2050.

Moreover, Vietnam will emphasise ondeveloping trading partnerships, while deepening ties with top countries in terms of sea farming, including Norway, Denmark, Japan, Australia and the US. The country welcomes investors in transferring modern aquaculture technologies and will look to importhigh-quality fingerlings from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Australia, the draft strategy added.

Nguyen Huu Dung, president of the Vietnam Seaculture Association, said, "Although sea farming has not developed much yet in Vietnam, it is very promising."

"With a coastline of more than 3,260km (2,026 miles) and numerous islands and bays, Vietnam has a huge geographic potential for aquaculture," Luan added. Its exclusive economic zone makes up for nearly 30% of the South China Sea, in particular, the waters in the country's west, with fewer storms and the deep waters in the central region are ideal for large-scale farming of marine fish species.
 

Source: SeafoodSource