December 2, 2011

Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that the country is forecast to import about 600,000 tonnes of seafood materials yearly by 2015 for local processing plants.

The ministry estimated that by 2015, local processing plants will consume 4.6 million tonnes of seafood materials but the country can provide only four million tonnes of seafood from aquatic farming and catching.

The ministry also predicted that by 2020, the domestic plants need 5.7 million tonnes of seafood annually. Of the volume, local farming and catching will supply 4.7 million tonnes and the country needs to import additionally one million tonnes.

Vietnam exports its seafood  products to many foreign markets, including the US, EU, Japan, Canada, South Korea, UAE, and Australia. The country earned US$5.5 billion from exporting this kind of food last year.