Visitors to the Vietnam Fisheries International Exhibition (Vietfish) 2018 (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – The Vietnam FisheriesInternational Exhibition (Vietfish) 2018 kicked off at the Saigon Exhibitionand Convention Centre in Ho Chi Minh City on August 22.
The event attracts 233 exhibitors from 14countries and territories, including 153 of Vietnam, showcasing aquaticproducts in 374 booths. The numbers of both exhibitors and booths increase by6.8 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively, from last year.
Vietfish 2018, lasting through August 24, alsofeatures many workshops discussing the market situation, production trends andother hot topics in the fisheries sector at present.
Ngo Van Ich, Chairman of the Vietnam Associationof Seafood Exporters and Producers, said over the last 20 years, Vietfish hasestablished itself as a leading and influential fisheries exhibition in Asia asseen in the surge of exhibitors, booths and visitors.
He noted fisheries is defined as a key economicsector of Vietnam that makes up about 4 percent of the country’s total exportturnover every year.
In 2017, businesses weathered numerousdifficulties to achieve the aquatic exports target of 8 billion USD. In thefirst half of this year, the figure was 4 billion USD, up 10.5 percent from ayear earlier, Ich said, adding that the targeted export turnover of 10 billionUSD in the near future is feasible.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment Vu Van Tam said the seafood processing and exporting industry,whose annual growth rate averages 10 percent between 2007 and 2017, plays animportant role in the economy. However, it hasn’t fully tapped into itspotential and advantages in aquaculture, fishing and processing to improveexport value.
Extensive economic integration and the FourthIndustrial Revolution promise to open up prospects for internationalcooperation in applying science and technology to promote the domesticindustry. In this context, Vietnamese companies will also face many challengesand fierce competition from global rivals.
Therefore, they need to continuously innovateand better their competitiveness to overcome challenges and grasp opportunitiesto help Vietnamese aquatic products win trust of domestic and foreignconsumers, Tam added.-VNA
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