(vasep.com.vn) In 2013, pressures due to the global economic crisis’ impacts stressed Vietnamese seafood companies. However, thank to the efforts made by seafood companies in Hau Giang - a province in Mekong Delta - seafood production and exports started to grow positively. Their most concern now is the lack of skillful workers in processing plants.
In July 2013, exports are estimated to reach US$21,017 million, increasing 35.11 percent against that of July 2012. In the first seven months of the year, total export value is around US$121 million, up 1 percent from 2012.
In a context of many difficulties faced by Vietnam fishery industry due to global economic crisis and EMS disease on shrimp, Minh Phu Seafood Corporation is still gaining business profits in 2013 as the company implemented its own business strategy, according to Le Van Quang, General Director of Minh Phu Seafood Corp. Minh Phu, in fact, continued to invest in sustainable development and strengthened exports in order to reach a total revenue of US$180 million this year.
Due to persistent challenges from 2012, raw shrimp became more expensive, pushing the price of exported products up to 30 percent. As diseases have damaged shrimp production in some other producing countries, Vietnamese exporters will have more opportunities to enhance shrimp sales to the global market, according to source from Vietnam Fish One Company.
Nguyen Van Kich, General Director of Cafatex Corporation said that cutting production cost is seen as the best solution for Cafatex to keep business during the tough economic time. Besides reorganizing production chain to reduce expenses, the company found new way to diversify products. Cafatex focuses on farming shrimp and producing value-added products to export, setting the target to maintain a yearly revenue of US$30 million.
In addition to lack of raw material for processing, other concern of companies in Hau Giang is to find source of skillful workers. Seafood companies strictly manage processing chain and require workers to comply with standards on hygiene conditions and work safety. However, they do not find enough highly qualified workers for processing operations.
Minh Phu – Hau Giang Seafood Company Limited owns a processing plant made up of 10,000 workers, but it has just had 3,000 workers so far. Of which, 40 percent were in the neighbourhood and the others came from surrounding provinces.
Hau Giang’s fishery industry has invested in training courses for labors from rural area in order to create huge sources of skillful workers for the market, said Nguyen Trung Liet, Deputy Director of Provincial Department of Labour - Invalids and Social Affairs.