The value of Vietnam's farm, forest and fisheries exports reached 17.43billion USD in the first seven months of 2014, up nearly 12 percent yearon year.
This includes 4.2 billion USD from seafood products, up 24.5 percent.
Meanwhile,the international seafood exhibition Vietfish 2014 opened on August 6,providing a good opportunity to local seafood enterprises to seek moreforeign partners and increase exports.
On this occasion, NguyenHoai Nam, General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of SeafoodExporters and Producers (VASEP), spoke about trade promotion ofVietnamese seafood products.
*Which factors have helped Vietnam to maintain high growth in seafood exports in recent years?
Vietnam'sfisheries have been developing for a long term and the country hasbecome one of the leading seafood exporters in the world. So far,Vietnamese seafood products have met all standards of quality andquantity at home and abroad.
Recently, the world economyexperienced a lot of change, leading to changing demand in exportmarkets and seafood products. But the demand for seafood has stillincreased in the world market over the past few years.
Meanwhile,some countries with developed fisheries have faced difficulties inseafood exports due to shrimp diseases, including Thailand andIndonesia.
This has created a favourable situation for Vietnam's shrimp and other seafood exports.
Regardingshrimp production, Vietnam has changed its focus from development oftiger prawns to diversification of the kinds of shrimps grown forexports, including white-leg shrimp.
In the first half of thisyear, tra fish exports fell slightly due to changes in the export marketdemand and stiff competition from other kinds of fish. However, thedemand in large export markets such as Europe has started rising after aperiod of decline.
Additionally, the local enterprises haveimproved their competitiveness in quality, production and exports. MostVietnamese seafood enterprises have the ability to import seafoodproducts of high quality from other countries for export processing,including India, Thailand, Indonesia and Ecuador.
*Exportmarkets often have different standards of quality, food hygiene andsafety of seafood products. What is your opinion of such standards?
Thesestandards are a trend and are often set up in markets in Europe and theUS. They have contributed towards promoting sustainable development ofseafood products, improving quality, food hygiene and safety, andensuring social and environmental responsibility.
Over the last 10 years, VASEP has updated the standards for local enterprises.
Thestandards have had their effect on domestic seafood production,especially of tra fish which had different standards. The first impactis higher production cost because of high investment to improve farmswhich supply seafood products, factories which process export productsas well as the high cost of testing product quality.
The high production cost would reduce the competitiveness of Vietnamese seafood exports.
Somesay that the standards have made integration with the world market moredifficult and are one way to protect the interests of the localindustry in some seafood exporting countries.
However, Vietnamis committed to manufacturing products of good quality and fulfillingits social and environmental responsibility by meeting the standards inexport markets.
The domestic enterprises should find solutions to reduce the production cost and to increase their competitiveness.
Vietnamwill join activities which regulate the standards in export markets orhave more cooperation with them to reduce the number of necessarycertificates required, when there are similar standards here.
*What does VASEP do to support domestic enterprises in building and advertising Vietnam's seafood trademarks?
Over the past year, VASEP has revised trade promotion activities to create a good image for Vietnamese seafood exports.
Theassociation has built an information channel between enterprises,customers and partners. Its website www.vasep.com.vn is a popularseafood trading website.
From this month, the association willdevelop an English version of the website to advertise Vietnameseseafood enterprises and seafood exports.
The association expectsthe website to update the latest news on Vietnamese enterprises andseafood products for the world market.
It would also promoteinternational cooperation with import organisations or associations inforeign countries to support domestic enterprises in production andprocessing of seafood exports.
It will participate in exhibitions, fairs and dialogue programmes to introduce Vietnamese seafood products in foreign markets.
Thelatest event is Vietfish 2014, which started on August 5 in Ho Chi MinhCity. The association expects the international seafood exhibition tobring more export opportunities for local enterprises because it hasattracted many participants from different countries.
This year, the exhibition was opened in August, instead of June, to attract a large number of local and foreign participants.-VNA
This includes 4.2 billion USD from seafood products, up 24.5 percent.
Meanwhile,the international seafood exhibition Vietfish 2014 opened on August 6,providing a good opportunity to local seafood enterprises to seek moreforeign partners and increase exports.
On this occasion, NguyenHoai Nam, General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of SeafoodExporters and Producers (VASEP), spoke about trade promotion ofVietnamese seafood products.
*Which factors have helped Vietnam to maintain high growth in seafood exports in recent years?
Vietnam'sfisheries have been developing for a long term and the country hasbecome one of the leading seafood exporters in the world. So far,Vietnamese seafood products have met all standards of quality andquantity at home and abroad.
Recently, the world economyexperienced a lot of change, leading to changing demand in exportmarkets and seafood products. But the demand for seafood has stillincreased in the world market over the past few years.
Meanwhile,some countries with developed fisheries have faced difficulties inseafood exports due to shrimp diseases, including Thailand andIndonesia.
This has created a favourable situation for Vietnam's shrimp and other seafood exports.
Regardingshrimp production, Vietnam has changed its focus from development oftiger prawns to diversification of the kinds of shrimps grown forexports, including white-leg shrimp.
In the first half of thisyear, tra fish exports fell slightly due to changes in the export marketdemand and stiff competition from other kinds of fish. However, thedemand in large export markets such as Europe has started rising after aperiod of decline.
Additionally, the local enterprises haveimproved their competitiveness in quality, production and exports. MostVietnamese seafood enterprises have the ability to import seafoodproducts of high quality from other countries for export processing,including India, Thailand, Indonesia and Ecuador.
*Exportmarkets often have different standards of quality, food hygiene andsafety of seafood products. What is your opinion of such standards?
Thesestandards are a trend and are often set up in markets in Europe and theUS. They have contributed towards promoting sustainable development ofseafood products, improving quality, food hygiene and safety, andensuring social and environmental responsibility.
Over the last 10 years, VASEP has updated the standards for local enterprises.
Thestandards have had their effect on domestic seafood production,especially of tra fish which had different standards. The first impactis higher production cost because of high investment to improve farmswhich supply seafood products, factories which process export productsas well as the high cost of testing product quality.
The high production cost would reduce the competitiveness of Vietnamese seafood exports.
Somesay that the standards have made integration with the world market moredifficult and are one way to protect the interests of the localindustry in some seafood exporting countries.
However, Vietnamis committed to manufacturing products of good quality and fulfillingits social and environmental responsibility by meeting the standards inexport markets.
The domestic enterprises should find solutions to reduce the production cost and to increase their competitiveness.
Vietnamwill join activities which regulate the standards in export markets orhave more cooperation with them to reduce the number of necessarycertificates required, when there are similar standards here.
*What does VASEP do to support domestic enterprises in building and advertising Vietnam's seafood trademarks?
Over the past year, VASEP has revised trade promotion activities to create a good image for Vietnamese seafood exports.
Theassociation has built an information channel between enterprises,customers and partners. Its website www.vasep.com.vn is a popularseafood trading website.
From this month, the association willdevelop an English version of the website to advertise Vietnameseseafood enterprises and seafood exports.
The association expectsthe website to update the latest news on Vietnamese enterprises andseafood products for the world market.
It would also promoteinternational cooperation with import organisations or associations inforeign countries to support domestic enterprises in production andprocessing of seafood exports.
It will participate in exhibitions, fairs and dialogue programmes to introduce Vietnamese seafood products in foreign markets.
Thelatest event is Vietfish 2014, which started on August 5 in Ho Chi MinhCity. The association expects the international seafood exhibition tobring more export opportunities for local enterprises because it hasattracted many participants from different countries.
This year, the exhibition was opened in August, instead of June, to attract a large number of local and foreign participants.-VNA
