(vasep.com.vn) Currently, many Japanese enterprises intend to shift their investments from China to Vietnam, said Nguyen Huy Dien, Deputy Head of Directorate of Fisheries (D-Fish), under Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
This information was provided on the sideline of a conference held by Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) in June 12th, 2013. Mr. Dien said that D-Fish would receive a delegation of members of the Japanese Diet and enterprises coming to Vietnam in order to set up bilateral cooperation in aquaculture and fish processing sector.
“Japanese investors are no longer interested in Chinese market, so they are planning to invest in aquaculture and processing sector in Vietnam”, said Mr. Dien. “Many enterprises had meeting with Vietnamese companies to discuss future cooperation plans.
According to VASEP, Japan was the third largest importer of Vietnam with US$398 million of import value between January and May 2013, accounting for 17 percent of Vietnam total seafood exports. Japan mainly purchased shrimp, squid, octopus and tuna.
Vietnamese shrimp exports to Japan are recovering after a year of decline, due to Japanese stricter and unfair regulation on testing Ethoxyquin in imported shrimp products from Vietnam.
In May 2013, Japan has raised the acceptable level of Trifluralin in shrimp products from Vietnam to 0.5 ppm, 500 folds up from that regulated before. The new decision will facilitate exports to this market.