Vietnam's seafood industry seeks new opportunities

Closing a difficult year of 2015, Vietnamese seafood is turning to a new page, especially in the context of comprehensive integration that is very close, however, many new difficulties are also coming.

Export fluctuations

At the end of 2015, the total value of seafood exports reached 6.7 billion USD, down 14.5% compared to the previous year. Of which, the three main seafood export products were shrimp, tra fish and tuna both decreased. Worryingly, the consumption markets are showing many negative signs, with 163/164 markets experiencing a decrease in export turnover, except for the ASEAN market.

The reason is believed to be the fluctuation in exchange rates, which has reduced the profits of Vietnamese companies and caused export enterprises to stagnate. The sharp increase in the value of the USD, the depreciation of the Euro and the Japanese Yen have caused the export market to be disrupted. But what is the main reason?

The change in the price of strong foreign currencies affects many countries developing the seafood export industry, not just Vietnam, so this cannot be used as a reason to "blame" the decline in exports. More obvious is the strong competition in the world seafood export market. If in the past, Vietnamese tra fish was almost "unrivaled" or Vietnamese tiger shrimp was a big brand; now they are facing fierce competition from other products with the same market share. However, the problem is that the production cost of the Vietnamese seafood industry is always high. This has a significant impact on the production and business activities of people and enterprises.

In 2015, pangasius exports decreased by 10% compared to 2014.

Active integration

2015 is considered a successful year for integration in the agricultural sector in general and aquaculture in particular. Good news from the US market when the anti-dumping tax on shrimp decreased, the average tax rate of 0.91% decreased sharply compared to 6.37% in the previous review period POR8, which is favorable for Vietnamese shrimp to enter the US.

Vietnam is actively integrating deeply into the international community, many people are concerned that people will have to face fierce competition with many countries; but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirms that with Vietnam signing FTAs ​​with South Korea and the Eurasian Economic Union, concluding FTA negotiations with the EU and the TPP Agreement...; Vietnam has secured large markets, helping people consume products well, including seafood. These markets will help Vietnam reduce the pressure of dependence on the risky Chinese market (in the first 10 months of the year, Vietnam's seafood export turnover to China reached more than 500 million USD, but only about 10% of seafood products were brought to restaurants, the rest were mostly consumed domestically and for other purposes).

Quality issues

According to the report of the Department of Animal Health, in the first 10 months of 2015, more than 8,000 tons of seafood exported from Vietnam were returned by other countries due to violations of import regulations. Many markets have reacted decisively to the violating products, such as Spain, Australia, and Germany. Although it is considered to be a significant decrease compared to previous years, in general, Vietnam's brand has been significantly affected in the past few years.

At the same time, up to now, only 15 provinces have approved funding for disease surveillance programs and aquaculture quality, with a total budget of about 20 billion VND for 2016. Failure to control diseases from the root and lack of determination from localities has caused the export industry to suffer.

The epidemic is rampant, according to many experts, because many localities have subjectively thought that the epidemic has been controlled and that means the shrimp disease has been resolved. Meanwhile, the scientists who discovered the disease of the century in shrimp also said that discovering the cause of the disease and the method of disease prevention in shrimp is only the first step, disease prevention for shrimp must be implemented daily, in which, measures using microorganisms and sustainable farming are long-term solutions.

Synchronous solution

In 2016, it is hoped that food safety and hygiene will improve when the Veterinary Law takes effect (from July 1, 2016). The reorganization of the apparatus, personnel and funding is expected to create changes in aquatic food safety and hygiene. In fact, for a long time, most of the products found to be of poor quality and returned were discovered by foreign markets and importers. The responsibility of the veterinary sector in inspecting and evaluating the quality of farming, processing and exporting is not high.

Experts predict that the world economy will continue to face difficulties in 2016, even 2017. To cope, businesses expect the government to support seafood businesses in particular and agriculture in general, in which capital solutions are the first requirement. To enter the new production cycle, businesses want capital flows with lower interest rates and increased credit limits and loan terms.

Many businesses and farmers also hope for a solution to avoid the phenomenon of "group interests"; at the same time, to reduce production costs, there must be a connection and profits must be shared equally for all stages from production to export, domestic businesses and foreign-invested businesses must join hands to reduce costs for the common brand of Vietnamese seafood.

According to Vietnam Fisheries