Vietnamese seafood exports is expected to grow by 8-10 percent per year, with annual export value to grow from a current level of about US$5 billion to US$6.5-6.7 billion by 2015 and $8 billion by 2020. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam informed that the US, EU and Japan would continue to be the three primary export markets for the nation’s seafood, accounting for 60-65 percent of total exports.
Tam said that the demand in these countries is rising in such a pace that meeting these targets would be difficult. The industry would move beyond its reliance on current key products like tra fish and shrimp and develop the export potential of other seafood products, including tuna, tilapia, shellfish and seaweed.
Former deputy minister Nguyen Thi Hong Minh said the seafood industry has been developed and now it needs further measures to reach the ministry targets, including better balancing the supply of raw materials with the demand of seafood processors. He added that these steps it would make the seafood industry better prepared to respond to such challenges as the Word Wildlife Fund’s listing of tra fish in its “Red Book” of endangered species.
