Aquatic exports likely to hit 10 billion USD in 2019

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam is likely to earn 10 billion USD from exporting aquatic products in 2019, according to the Directorate of Fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Acting Director General of the directorate Nguyen Ngoc Oai said on July 4 that in the remainder of 2019, the sector will strive to reach a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 4.65 percent, production value growth of 4.69 percent, and export turnover of 10.5 billion USD.

It will also pay more attention to removing the European Commission (EC)’s yellow card warning.

From now to the end of October, the sector will make all-out efforts to implement the four recommendations by the EC related to the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, Oai said, adding that the EC inspection team will come to Vietnam in early November.

Director of the ministry’s Aquaculture Production Department Nhu Van Can said the shrimp sector will take a number of measures to reduce the production costs and increase competitiveness.

He said the sector has plenty of room for development but it should focus on improving the quality to overcome technical barriers of choosy markets.

According to the Directorate of Fisheries, aquatic exports in the first six months of 2019 were estimated at 4 billion USD, a year-on-year rise of 0.7 percent.-VNA