Seafood enterprises will be looking for new partners when the largest fisheries exhibition in Southeast Asia (VIETFISH 2010) opens in HCM City from June 12-14.

Speaking at a press conference on June 8 in HCM City , organisers of AsiaVietnam Fisheries International Exhibition 2010 said this will be the 12th exhibition to promote
Vietnam 's seafood industry to the world.

The event is expected to attract 170 companies from different countries including Malaysia , the Republic of Korea , Yemen , the Philippines , Australia , China and Pakistan .

With 283 pavilions, an increase of 21 percent over last year, the expo will showcase products and services including production, processing, packaging, machines, and
chemicals.

VIETFISH 2010 exhibition has been advertised in famous international seafood magazines including Intrafish , France 's Produit de la mer, Middle East's Amex and Asia 's

Inforfish and Food Industry to attract new buyers.

The exhibition will be held in Sai Gon Exhibition and Convention Centre by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Truong Dinh Hoe, VASEP general secretary, said in the year’s first four months, domestic seafood exports reached 1.27 billion USD, an increase of 20.1 percent over the same period last year.

Frozen shrimp exports reached the highest value of more than 426 million USD, an increase of 29.5 percent compared to the same period last year. Tra and basa catfish
exports ranked second with an increase of 12.3 percent

Up till April this year, Vietnam 's seafood products were present in 163 markets with more than 85 different types. The European Union is the top importer of Vietnamese
seafood at 317 million USD, followed by the United States with 13,000 tonnes worth more than 40 million USD.

This year, Vietnam 's seafood industry is expected to export more than 500,000 tonnes of tra catfish and 200,000 tonnes of shrimp aiming to reach export value of 4.5 billion USD./.