VietnamNet
25 December 2014
Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) general secretary Nguyen Hoai Nam said the world market had seen a recovery, and sales of seafood products has risen more than other types of food. Meanwhile, Viet Nam maintained stable and high quality seafood supplies, as the nation was estimated to gain a year-on-year increase of 18 per cent in seafood export values for this year, rising to $7.9 billion, reported vietnamplus.vn.
Also, deputy minister of agriculture and rural development Vu Van Tam said the nation could reach its target of $8 billion in total seafood export value for next year due to the continuing high growth in value this year.
The value of shrimp exports in 2014 was expected to reach 22 per cent year-on-year, surging to $3.8 billion, while the value of tra fish exports would be $1.8 billion, he said.
Of note, Nam said tilapia could become a key export seafood products in the near future. Many seafood experts agreed with this opinion because, with the potential in fresh water and existing technological infrastructures of the fisheries industry, Viet Nam had the ability to greatly increase the output of tilapia for export processing.
Pham Anh Tuan, deputy head of Fisheries Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said tilapia had great appeal in foreign markets.
Over the past five years, tilapia has reached an average growth rate at 30 per cent each year in the world market.