October 18, 2007

Vietnam sends delegation to seafood show in South Korea to boost exports

A Vietnamese delegation of seafood producers and exporters will participate in Busan International Seafood & Fisheries EXPO 2007 (BISFE) in South Korea from November 15-18 to boost seafood exports to the country.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (Vasep) is participating in BISFE, the biggest seafood expo in South Korea.

The show is held annually in Busan city.

South Korea is now one the four biggest importers of Vietnamese seafood. The others are EU, Japan and the US.

South Korea accounts for 6.4 percent of the US$3.3 billion Vietnam earned from seafood in 2006. Last year, Vietnam exported 84,000 tonnes of seafood valued at US$210.3 million to South Korea.

So far this year, South Korea has imported US$133.35 million worth of seafood from Vietnam, up 22 percent on-year. 

Last month, South Korea tightened standards and urged exporters to check for Malachite Green levels on all farmed seafood, and sulfur dioxide levels on fresh and frozen crabs.

Vietnam expects overall seafood exports to rise 9 percent this year to hit US$3.6 billion.