Vietnam's seafood products were shipped to over 160 countries worldwide this year, helping the country become one of the world's top 10 seafood exporters, said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam.

However, the development of the seafood processing industry had not gone exactly according to plan, resulting in a number of practical difficulties such as an imbalance of supply and demand and an unstable market.

The industry needed to carry out research to assess the market and make predictions for the future in a move to ensure sustainable development, he said.

The fishing industry aimed to increase production by 8-10 percent per year and to export 6.5-7 million tonnes of seafood worth 8-9 billion USD by 2020, following a development strategy approved recently by the Prime Minister.

Under the plan, which would require an estimated 57.4 trillion VND (2.9 billion USD), the industry would be industrialised and developed to increase output, improve quality, and enhance its competitiveness.

Top priority would be given to developing the cultivation of freshwater fish, molluscs, sea fish, shrimp and crab sectors in the Hong (Red) River Delta and improving the tra fish and shrimp sectors in the East Sea and the country's southern region so that the products were congruent with Global GAP standards.

Plants would also be built in central Vietnam to produce feed that would be sold domestically and throughout ASEAN.

Vietnam expects to earn 4.5 billion USD from seafood exports this year. The country earned 3.98 billion USD from seafood exports during the first 10 months of the year, up 14.46 percent compared to 2009./.