Vietnam’s seafood exporters are seeking ways to boost shipments to niche markets, as COVID-19 is disrupting supply chains, hindering logistics services and raising transportation costs.

Kien Giang province aims to resolutely minimise and end illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, develop and implement a project on consolidating and rearranging fishing vessels in the province to provide stable work for fishermen, ensuring sustainability in preventing IUU fishing.

Some of the islands in the Truong Sa archipelago have been equipped with special shelter areas considered “common homes” at sea for fishermen to stay safe amid storms and access fishery logistics services, and which also help safeguard Vietnam’s maritime sovereignty.

Maritime transport costs have skyrocketed in recent months as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic takes its toll, pushing import-export companies into a lot of difficulties.

Vietnam is to have 280,000 ha of marine aquaculture area and 10.5 million cubic metres of farming cages by 2025, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

Vietnam is planning to raise the contribution of logistics services to its gross domestic product (GDP) to 5%-6% by 2025, according to a recent decision signed by the Prime Minister.

Optimising quality of logistics services is a requisite measures to boost Vietnam-EU trade amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, experts said at the online business matching forum held on December 9.