Shrimp summit 2023 seeks solutions to industry’s challenges

Addressing the event, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Phung Duc Tien said that Vietnam has high potential in aquatic farming, especially brackish water shrimp farming.

He noted that the shrimp industry has played an important role in Vietnam's seafood exports during the past two decades. Each year, the shrimp industry contributes about 40-45% of the total seafood export value, equivalent to US$3.5-4.3 billion. Currently, Vietnamese shrimps have been exported to 100 countries, with the five largest markets being Europe, the US, Japan, China and the Republic of Korea.

To date, about 200 shrimp processing factories in Vietnam have been examined and approved by the European Commission, he said, adding that Vietnam has been the second largest shrimp supplier, providing 13-14% of the total shrimp exports in the world.

Tien said that the Vietnamese shrimp sector has maintained stable export growth at nearly 7% over the past 20 years.

However, it is facing numerous challenges, mostly from COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts and market fluctuations, especially since 2022, he said, underlining that the Government has issued many programmes and projects to boost the sector’s sustainable growth, contributing to the global shrimp sector.

Tien said that during the summit, scientists, experts and businesses focused their discussions on the industry's important issues, giving forecast on production, market demand, updating standards for shrimp products and innovation in farming techniques.

Nguyen Viet Thang, Chairman of the Vietnam Fisheries Society said that currently, the fisheries sector is employing more than 5 million labourers, including more than 1 million in the shrimp sector.

He highlighted contributions that the shrimp sector has made to the country’s economic development as well as major challenges it is encountering.

Thang said that he hopes though the summit, international experts and buyers will share with their domestic peer advanced technologies in varieties production, environmental protection, disease management, and water management, as well as the market demands and cooperation opportunities in shrimp trading.

Le Van Quang, General Director of the Minh Phu Fisheries Group said that Vietnam currently has more than 700,000 hectares of shrimp farm, able to meeting the various demand of more than 100 countries. Vietnam has developed ecological and organic shrimp farming models with high value, meeting sustainability standards.

Within the framework of the summit, participants visited a number of farm production and processing facilities in the Mekong Delta province of Ca Mau.