Vietnam to boost seafood export to Europe

Vietnam plans to boost its seafood export to Europe, a promising market with a huge demand for Tra fish (Pangasius), Vietnam News Agency quoted the confirmation by Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) Nguyen Huu Dung as reporting on Thursday.


According to VASEP, amongst Vietnam's 139 Tra fish importers, Europe is the largest, accounting for 35.8 percent to the country' s total tra fish export value of almost 1.43 billion U.S. dollars in 2010.


Tra fish ranks second among Vietnam's seafood exports in terms of the export value. The country earned 376.43 million U.S. dollars from exports of 153,062 tons of Tra fish in the first quarter, up by 21.6 percent in value and 5.2 percent in volume year-on-year.


Tra fish production is expected to reach 800,000 tons in 2011. However, there could be a severe shortage of raw material towards the third quarter of the year, reported VASEP.


The country has signed a cooperation agreement with the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) based on the sustainable development of the Tra fish sector in order to meet the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) standards through the aquaculture improvement project for Tra fish implemented during 2011-2015.
(Source:http://news.xinhuanet.com)