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Vietnam's seafood industry turns to new markets

HANOI - Vietnam's seafood industry is turning to the European Union (EU) and Asia-Pacific markets to cope with a shrimp dumping lawsuit filed by the United States.

Vietnam's shrimp exports to the EU are currently hit with a preferential tariff of 4.2%.

In the first five months of this year, exports to Japan and the EU have risen 80% over the same period last year, said the general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), Nguyen Huu Dung.

The country earned US$300 million (VND4.7 trillion) from the Asia-Pacific market alone in this period, accounting for 41% of the country's total seafood exports.

The Canadian and Australian markets accounted for the highest growth, at 80% and 69%, respectively.

Dung said the increase has helped compensate for a 3% decrease in exports to the US market.

The trade ministry predicts demand will only rise in the EU and Canadian markets, encouraging domestic seafood exporters to expand business there .

A lack of white meat fish in some European countries has caused them to increase their imports of Vietnamese tra and basa catfish, added Dung.

In addition to the EU and Canadian markets, demand for Vietnamese shrimp also increased in the Asia-Pacific market, the trade ministry said.

The Ministry of Fishery said the Asia-Pacific market has the most potential for export.

For example, South Korea added 25 Vietnamese seafood businesses to the list of exporters needed to meet its import requirements.

Despite signals of increasing shrimp exports, Dung still urged Vietnamese shrimp exporters to intensify trade promotion to accelerate their export volume, as the seafood markets have become accustomed to shrimp imports from other Asian countries too, including Bangladesh and Indonesia.

Vietnam's seafood export revenues between January and May reached $782 million, a 2.5% increase over the same period last year, the trade ministry reported.

(Asia Pulse/VNA)

Jun 19, 2004

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