Washington (VNA) – Fifteen Vietnamese seafood exporters attended theSeafood Expo North America and Seafood Processing North America, the largest ofits kind show in the North America, from March 17-19 in Boston, the US to seek new partners and expandexport markets.

More than 1,000 of suppliers from around the world joined the annual event,offering the newest seafood products as well as modern processing and packagingequipment.

TheVietnamese delegation, led by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exportersand Producers (VASEP), includes several companies that have operated internationallyfor many years such as Vinh Hoan Corporation, Minh Phu SeafoodCorporation, Hung Vuong Corporation andother brands such as Nghi Son Foods Group, Trang Thuy Seafood Co., Ltd andSeaprimexco Vietnam.

According to An The Dung, director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’sVietnam trade promotion office in the US, Vietnamese seafood has a greatopportunity to break into the US, where demand for seafood products is growing.

Furthermore, anti-dumping taxes levied on Vietnamese shrimp are expected to declinefrom 25.39 percent to 4.58 percent while tra fish, which has long been popularamong foreign consumers, will be soon certified to be shipped to this market.

VASEPVice General Secretary To Thi Tuong Lan said the quality of Vietnamese seafoodhas received high rating in international markets and is present in 160countries and territories worldwide. Vietnam is currently the largest tra fishsupplier and fourth biggest shrimp exporter in the world.

Describing product diversification and quality improvement as keys to promoteshipments to the US, Lan said “Vietnam has many opportunities to sell not onlyits two main products- shrimp and tra fish but also many other processedproducts with high added value”.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Dang Dinh Quy said Vietnameseexports will thrive in 2019 on the back of increasing demands in the US marketcoupled with several new-generation free trade agreements that will take effectthis year.

However, Vietnamese firms should work more to ensure environmental protectionand product quality to meet requirements of the US market, he said, adding itis necessary for them to cooperate with US processing firms and importers tocreate a complete value chain, facilitating trade between the two sides.

The seafood sector has an ambitious target of earning 10 billion USD fromexports this year, up 10 percent from 2018. However, the goal can be achievedthanks to robust signs in foreign markets. VASEP eyes to earn 4.2 billion USDfrom shrimp exports, 2.3 billion USD from tra fish exports, and some 3.5billion USD from other seafood shipments.

In addition, seafood consumption is expected to rise to 98.6 million tonnes indeveloping countries and 29.2 million tonnes in developed countries.

VASEP said that it will work to increase Vietnamese seafood’s presence infastidious markets like the US, Japan and the EU, and see quality as acompetitive edge, not low price.-VNA