Five-month aquatic exports grow despite struggles

Reports at a VASEP conference in HCM City said the shipment of shrimp had brought home 1.4 billion USD, jumping a huge 63 percent from the same period last year and accounting for 49 percent of the total aquatic exports.

Notably, the value of shrimp destined for the US , the Republic of Korea and Switzerland soared by 120 percent, 108 percent, and 109 percent respectively. Over the period, the shrinkage of tra fish farming areas and output, as well as falling demand from EU countries and the US, cut this commodity's turnover by 7.6 percent to 655 million USD. Meanwhile, a 23 percent drop was seen in the earnings from exported tuna, standing at 195 million USD, due to a fall in the shipment to some key markets such as the US, Japan and the EU. At the same time, Vietnam gained 172 million USD from the export of squid and octopus, rising by 8.5 percent from a year before. VASEP predicted total aquatic exports this year will reach some 7 billion USD, up 5 percent from 2013. The figure will include 3.5 billion USD from shrimp exports, 1.7 billion USD from tra fish, 450 million USD from tuna, and 470 million USD from squid and octopus. At the conference, business insiders said for the first time, VASEP has witnessed a 10 percent decrease in its membership, as difficulties and risks have forced some businesses to go bankrupt. They asked managerial agencies to issue concrete regulations on aquaculture and more favourable policies to facilitate their operation. Under a fisheries development strategy until 2020 approved by the Prime Minister, Vietnam targets 8 billion USD in aquatic exports in 2015 and 10 billion USD in 2020.

(Source: VNA)