A tra fish farm in Tan Thuan Dong commune, Cao Lanh district of Dong Thap (Photo: VNA) Dong Thap (VNA) – The Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap is seeking measures to promote the sales of tra fish in the domestic and foreign markets amid various difficulties facing the sector recently.
According to Director of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade Nguyen Huu Dung, tra fish is one of the key exports of Dong Thap, accounting for 65% of the locality’s total export revenue.
The official said that before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, tra fish products of Dong Thap were exported to 100 countries and territories, including choosy markets like the US, the EU, and Japan. However, since the beginning of 2023, a sharp drop has been seen in the export of the product in the majority of markets in the world, affecting the local tra fish sector.
In the first half of this year, a downturn was seen in the export to many markets, including the US at 57%, China 44%, and the EU 14%. Meanwhile, tra fish prices have also been falling. The number of tra fish export markets have also been shrunken to 80, said Dung.
Currently, Dong Thap has 27 businesses engaging in tra fish processing and exporting with a total capacity of over 700,000 tonnes, employing more than 200,000 labourers. Alongside, 13 other facilities have operated in tra fish by-product processing with a capacity of about 350,000 tonnes per year, supplying over 80,000 tonnes of fishmeal and fish fat to the market, along with about 1,800 tonnes of collagen and 17,700 tonnes of fish oil.
Processing tra fish for exports (Photo: VNA) According to the firms, the sector is facing great difficulties due to high costs amid a decrease in exports and prices as well as high inventory.
They have asked for support from local authorities in policy and trade promotion, especially communications to increase domestic sales.
Local tra fish businesses said that they are in need of market information for production regulating, and assistance in import tax on animal feed.
In order to help the tra fish sector overcome this difficult period, tra fish producers and processors proposed that ministries and sectors design support policies for them, providing them with easy access to credit and introducing their products to new markets.
Representatives from the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development predicted that the situation will improve in the last months of this year.
They advised Dong Thap businesses to actively seek new export markets for tra fish products and design suitable development strategy for particular markets, building their trademarks and strengthen the promotion of Vietnamese tra fish./.
