The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho needs to promote the export of agricultural products and seafood to the Russian market in a bid to improve living standards for local farmers, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Truong Quang Hoai Nam has said.

At a September 18 meeting with local agencies on commodity exports, Nam stated that Russia is a potential market for agricultural and aquatic products – a strength of Can Tho.

He asked the municipal Department of Industry and Trade to work with the city’s Trade and Investment Promotion Centre to make market surveys, thus providing timely information on taxes and requirements on quality standards for local businesses.

Enterprises eyeing the Russian market should pay more attention to diversifying export products, renewing patterns and promoting their goods on Russian language websites, he added.

According to Nguyen Minh Toai, Director of the department, Can Tho’s main exports to Russia include rice, frozen, dried and salted fish, tra fish fillet, and mollusc.

The shipment of agricultural and aquatic products now accounts only 1.6 percent of the country’s total exports to the Russian market, said the department.

In the first nine months of this year, Vietnam shipped 485,000 tonnes of rice and 75,000 tonnes of seafood to Russia, representing year-on-year decreases of 12.6 percent and 38 percent, respectively.-VNA