Vietnamese pangasius is present in 140 markets around the world.

On December 14, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development coordinated with the Southwest Steering Committee and the People's Committee of An Giang province to organize a conference to summarize "Pangasius production and consumption in 2016 and discuss solutions for sustainable development".

Vietnam's pangasius fish exports have reached over 1.6 billion USD.

According to the assessment of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in 2016, the situation of raising, processing and exporting pangasius in the Mekong Delta region faced many difficulties due to the impact of climate change, drought and salinity, technical barriers from many countries in the world, and unstable prices... However, the pangasius industry overcame the challenges to continue growing.

Specifically, the area for raising pangasius fish in the Mekong Delta provinces is about 5,000 hectares, reaching an output of more than 1 million tons; total export turnover is over 1.6 billion USD, up 6.6% over the same period in 2015. At the same time, businesses and functional sectors have made efforts to overcome technical barriers to bring Vietnamese pangasius products to 140 markets around the world, an increase of 4 markets compared to 2015. The United States continues to be a large market for Vietnamese pangasius exports, accounting for about 20% of total export turnover.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nguyen Xuan Cuong, said that the increase in pangasius exports is a good thing, but it is not yet sustainable. In 2016, the pangasius industry had major fluctuations; in the first 6 months of the year, raw pangasius prices fluctuated low, causing many farming households to face disadvantages. Only in the last months of the year did the pangasius prices increase again, but at this time, the pangasius output was not much.

Along with unstable prices, the import market is also constantly fluctuating, especially recently many countries in the world continue to erect technical barriers causing difficulties for us. From the above factors, it can be seen that the pangasius industry needs to proactively respond, constantly improve quality, expand the market to adapt and increase export value.

Pangasius processing in An Giang

According to the plan, in 2017, the area for raising pangasius in the whole Mekong Delta region will be about 5,000-5,500 hectares, with an output of more than 1.1 million tons of raw fish. Basically, we do not encourage a sharp increase in area and output, but mainly focus on investing in improving the quality of pangasius, especially investing in seed sources. Promote the development of GAP farming models to create clean products to meet demanding markets.

The Mekong Delta provinces propose that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant agencies further manage farming and processing areas for export, avoiding internal competition among enterprises or producing poor quality products that affect the reputation of the Vietnamese pangasius industry. At the same time, focus on developing pangasius according to a sustainable value chain model, ensuring the harmony of interests among participating parties.

According to Saigongiaiphong