Seafood exports to RoK on rise
Seafood exports to the Republic of Korea are expected to grow steadily in the near future, said Trinh Nam Phuong from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) at a seminar in HCM City on December 12.
She said that the RoK is currently the fourth largest importer of Vietnamese seafood after the US, EU and Japan. It is only second to Japan as the largest importer of Vietnamese cuttlefish and octopus.
Seafood exports to the RoK market reached US$421.49 million in the first 10 months of the year, up eight percent compared to the same period last year, with shrimp, cuttlefish, octopus, and bivalve mollusks in bulk orders, Phuong said.
In recent years, the RoK has reduced its exploitation of tuna in the sea and increased its import of fish especially tuna from 27 countries, including China, Vietnam, Japan, the US and Thailand.
"The RoK’s demand for tuna is offering a great opportunity for Vietnamese firms," she said.
Vietnam's shrimp exports to the RoK are expected to grow steadily.
Under the ASEAN – RoK Free Trade Agreement (AKFTA) exporters should improve the quality of seafood products in the post-harvest processing period, she added.
Ho Quang Trung, head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's International Cooporation Department, said preferential treatments to export goods under the ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Agreement.