(vasep.com.vn) In June 12th, 2013, Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) has held its 2013 Annual Member Conference and its 15th anniversary at REX hotel, Ho Chi Minh City. On this occasion, the Association was honored to be awarded the second-class Labour Medal by Ministry of Agriculutre and Rural Development.
Addressing at the opening ceremony, Tran Thien Hai – VASEP’s Chairman said that the 15-year period development marked the growth of VASEP with great efforts made by Vietnamese seafood enterprises.
Initially, VASEP had 57 members, which exported seafood products to 50 foreign markets to bring back US$820 million of revenue. So far, the Association has included 273 members, trading products to150 countries and territories with annual export value growth of 13 percent in the period from 2005 – 2011. The 2011 was the first year that Vietnamese seafood exports exceeded the level of US$6 billion to reach total value of US$6.2 billion, up 21.5 percent over the previous year.
“VASEP makes great recommendations in drafting or revising state policies and regulations on fisheries. However, Vietnam fishery faces more and more difficulties in production and barriers set by international market, it’s necessary for the Association to strengthen its role in creating closer links among members companies for sustainable development”, Mr Tran Thien Hai Chairman of VASEP said.
“VASEP has stood side by side with seafood companies in pangasius dumping cases since 2003 and thanks to that antidumping duty for frozen fish fillets imported into the U.S reduced from 37.94 percent to 6.81 percent in the period of the first and fourth administrative reviews”, Truong Thi Le Khanh CEO of Vinh Hoan Corp said at the conference.
At the conference, Executive Board reported on activities of VASEP in 2012 – 2013 and orientations and plans for 2013 – 2014.
The conference also held a full vote on amending VASEP’s Charter, including a proposal to change the Association’s name from “Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers” to “Vietnam Seafood Association”.
Vu Van Tam, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development said at the conference that strong and effective industry organisations play an indispensible role in the current economic time. They not only give recommendations and advices to regulatory authorities in their management policy, but are also the link between government agencies and seafood business community to cooperate towards a shared development. VASEP is considered as a model for other industry organisations to follow.