It is true that Russia has been the largest importer of Vietnamese pangasius and now in 2010 the industry has set its exporting target to US$100 million. Duong Ngoc Minh, head of the Viet Nam’s Pangasius Export Steering Board to Russia, informed that although Pangasius exports to Russia has resumed since June 2009, export volume increased strongly, reaching 39,000MT, worth US$64 million in the first 11 months of 2009.
Minh added that the export prices to Russia remained stable or even rose by 5-7 percent over 2008, while prices to other markets fell by 10-15 percent. He said that the export products must follow requirements on quality as well as food hygiene and safety set by both Viet Nam and Russia since Russia had strict standards on hygiene and food safety.
Luong Le Phuong, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development informed that seafood enterprises must ensure hygiene and food safety, from farming, processing and storage to transportation. Nguyen Viet Thang, Chairman of Viet Nam Fisheries Society (Vinafis), told that Russia is no doubt a large market for Vietnamese pangasius and it should consider product quality the most important criteria to have strong foothold in this potential market.
