On November 8, within the framework of Vietfood & Beverage – Propack Vietnam 2023 Exhibition, the Norwegian Seafood Council organized the first “Norwegian Salmon Academy” event in Vietnam.
Through interactive activities, meetings, and introductions with lots of useful information, visitors to the Norwegian Seafood Council booth can update the latest development trends in the seafood sector, and connect directly with seafood producers and exporters from Norway.
This is also the first time that 8 leading Norwegian seafood producers and exporters (including Salmar, Seaborn, Leroy, Coast, Cape Fish, Hofseth, Pure Norwegian Seafood and Star Seafood) have come to Vietnam to directly participate in the activities of the Norwegian Seafood Council, promoting cooperation opportunities with potential partners in the Vietnamese market.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Asbjørn Warvik Rørtveit - Regional Director for Southeast Asia - Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) - said: “The foundation of the Norwegian seafood industry is a commitment to responsible development and maintaining the natural balance in our environment. Our goal is not only to provide Vietnamese consumers with high-quality and reliable seafood, but also to promote cooperation in protecting marine ecosystems, contributing to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the seafood industry.”
As the Norwegian Seafood Council’s Regional Director for Southeast Asia over the past few years, Asbjørn has witnessed the rapid growth of domestic seafood consumption in the Vietnamese market. This growing trend reflects the growing demand for Norwegian seafood in Vietnam and reflects the growing awareness and recognition of the values that the Norwegian seafood industry represents.
In September 2023, Norway exported 8,988 tonnes of seafood to Vietnam, a 16% increase in volume compared to the same period last year. These exports were worth NOK 266 million (approximately USD 23.7 million), an impressive 28% increase in value.
Statistics from the beginning of the year to date show that Vietnam has imported a total of 42,242 tons of seafood from Norway, worth NOK 1.6 billion (equivalent to USD 142 million), equivalent to an increase of 8% in volume and 23% in value compared to the same period last year. This shows that consumer demand is increasing, along with the population size and the increase in income of Vietnamese consumers.
“Therefore, Vietnam is an attractive market for Norwegian seafood exporters, maintaining its position as the leading importer of Norwegian seafood in Southeast Asia. In the coming time, the Norwegian Seafood Council is committed to working closely with Vietnamese businesses to increase economic value, while maintaining the assurance that Norwegian seafood available in Vietnam always has a world-class origin and quality,” Mr. Asbjørn affirmed.
To combat illegal fishing and remove the yellow card, the Prime Minister requested a comprehensive review of seafood enterprises exporting to the European market.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has just issued an official dispatch on focusing on finding ways to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and removing the yellow card warning from the European Commission (EC).
Since the yellow card was imposed in 2017, seafood - one of Vietnam's important export industries - has been significantly affected. According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), by 2022, after 5 years, the proportion of goods exported to this market will decrease to 9.4%. The EU also fell from second to fourth place in Vietnam's seafood import markets. If the yellow card turns red, the loss of exports to the EU alone could be up to 518 million USD. The seafood exploitation and processing industry is also likely to decrease by at least 30% compared to current capacity. Therefore, for many years, Vietnam has made great efforts to remove the IUU yellow card.
However, according to the Official Dispatch, to date, the fight against IUU fishing still has many shortcomings. Violations by fishing vessels in foreign waters still occur; local law enforcement is still inconsistent, slow in investigating, verifying, and handling violations; especially violations of illegal fishing in foreign waters, penalties for violations of regulations on disconnection of voyage monitoring equipment, and crossing maritime boundaries. In addition, the traceability of exploited seafood is still weak. These factors lead to a high risk of Europe raising the warning to a red card.
Therefore, one of the requirements that the Prime Minister assigned to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Transport, Justice, and localities is to ensure certification and traceability of seafood origin. Accordingly, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive review of seafood exporting enterprises to the European market, ensure complete and legal records, and strictly handle violations (if there is sufficient basis for criminal prosecution); in particular, focusing on shipments of yellowfin tuna, bigeye tuna, and swordfish.
Authorities also need to properly implement regulations in confirming and certifying domestically exploited aquatic products; strictly prohibit and strictly handle cases of legalizing documents; complete and put into use the electronic traceability system to track products; control the activities of fishing vessels, and strictly handle fishing vessels that do not meet operating conditions.
The Prime Minister also requested a policy to convert and support the livelihoods of fishermen who voluntarily stop participating in fishing or whose fishing vessels no longer meet the prescribed conditions.
The Prime Minister said that strong measures will be taken to prevent fishing vessels from illegally exploiting in foreign waters; and cases of fishing vessels sending monitoring devices to other fishing vessels, fishing vessels assisting in transporting monitoring devices from other fishing vessels will be thoroughly investigated and handled. 100% of violations will be punished.
The Prime Minister requested strict handling of organizations and individuals who, for personal gain, deliberately commit illegal acts that affect national interests.
According to the latest preliminary statistics of the General Department of Customs, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports in October 2023 earned more than 608 million USD, down 8.8% compared to September 2023. In the first 10 months of the year, our country's fruit and vegetable exports reached 4.8 billion USD, a sharp increase of 75.5% and was the fastest growing commodity in the first 10 months of the year.
The largest customer of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables is China, with the highest import proportion among markets. Specifically, in October 2023, fruit and vegetable exports to China reached more than 434 million USD, accounting for 71% of the country's total. In the first 10 months of the year, fruit exports to China reached more than 3.18 billion USD, 2.63 times higher than the same period in 2022, accounting for 66.25% of the country's total turnover.
 |
| Vietnam has dozens of types of fruits and vegetables being exported around the world. (Source: VNA) |
Besides China, other prominent markets for Vietnamese fruits and vegetables include the US, South Korea, Japan, etc. For the US, this country imported more than 212 million USD worth of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables, a slight decrease of 7 million USD compared to the previous year and accounting for nearly 5%. South Korea spent nearly 187 million USD on imports, an increase of 27% over the same period.
According to statistics, Vietnamese agricultural products in general and fruits in particular are now present in more than 160 countries and territories. Vietnam has dozens of types of fruits and vegetables being exported around the world, helping the export turnover of fruits and vegetables in 2022 reach 3.34 billion USD, of which the trade surplus is about 1.3 billion USD.
In the fruit group, dragon fruit is the main export product, reaching over 1 billion USD each year; followed by banana, jackfruit, durian, mango... The most exported vegetables are: chili, sweet potato, corn, cauliflower, soybean, cabbage, okra, taro, potato, zucchini, pumpkin...
For the main market China, each year this country imports 7 million tons of fresh fruit, worth about 10 billion USD. However, currently, Vietnamese fruit exported to China only accounts for 7.15% of the market share, compared to Thailand's 45.02% and Chile's 16.8%.
Therefore, the opportunity for Vietnamese fruits to expand their market share in China is huge, especially when many types of fruits have been officially licensed for import into this market. For fresh grapefruit, opportunities in the US and New Zealand markets are also wide open.
According to the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, China often has high demand for dragon fruit at the end of the year. This is expected to help dragon fruit exports recover.
Recently, coconuts have been granted a "visa" to the US and with negotiations on official export of coconut products to China, Vietnamese coconuts are expected to quickly become a billion-dollar commodity in the near future.
These factors contribute to increasing the export turnover of the entire fruit and vegetable industry in the coming time. It is forecasted that in 2023, the export turnover of fruits and vegetables will reach 5.5 billion USD.
Source
Comment (0)