Lying at the junction of Asia, Africa and Europe, the Middle East serves as a gate for goods to penetrate neighboring regions. It is also a promising new market for Vietnamese seafood.
Despite the negative impact of the European public debt crisis, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) reports that Vietnam’s seafood exports have maintained steady growth and are estimated to hit USD 500 million in May to raise the total value in the first five months of this year to USD 2.3 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9.8 percent.
Seafood exports to the Middle East witnessed a dramatic rise in earnings, which helps cover revenue losses in the European market and provides impetus for for the seafood sector to continue growing.
The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said seafood products shipped to the Middle East have increased in value from USD 192 million in 2009 to USD 225 million in 2010 and USD 274 million in 2011.
Vietnam is boosting seafood exports to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Israel, Sudan, Lebanon, Iraq and Kuwait, it said.
Of those countries, the UAE is Vietnam's largest customer and a crucial gateway for transporting goods to other Middle Eastern and North African nations.
The UAE is a major crude oil exporter, as well as the second biggest economy in the Muslim world, and ranks 17th among the world's 61 most competitive economies. However, its seafood production can only meet 25 percent of its total demand so it must import the remainider from other countries.
The UAE mainly imports butterfish, anchovies, garrupa, tuna, lobster, mollusks, tra fish and salmon from Vietnam.
Tuna exports to the UAE have increased noticeably in value from USD 522,000 in 2009 to over USD 2 million two years later.
Meanwhile, tuna exports to Sudan reached nearly USD 1.5 million in revenue in the first four months of this year, an enormous year-on-year increase of 655 percent, making it one of the top ten importers of Vietnamese tuna.
This shows positive results from efforts by domestic tuna producers to seek business opportunities for exports to new markets in the Middle East. Seafood exports from Vietnam have many advantages in the region and they are now in ever increasing demand.
Many Middle Eastern countries are heading east for trade and investment, which creates more opportunites for Vietnamese goods to penetrate and increase their shares in those markets.
With average annual economic growth of 6-14 percent, the Middle East region is considered a market with great potential for Vietnam.
Although, there are no strict regulations for product quality and packaging, Vietnamese businesses still face uphill battles because of legal and technical obstacles, as well as the ways of doing business in this market.
They also suffer from a high risk of payment, unstable security, a lack of information, fierce competition due to low import taxes and a poor network of Vietnamese representative offices in the region.
To overcome these problems, the Vietnamese Directorate of Fisheries and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) recently sent a number of trade delegations to survey the Middle Eastern market.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) A project titled "Sustainable Shrimp Industry Governance" has been launched in Ca Mau Province with the aim of supporting the transition of the province's shrimp industry toward higher quality, lower emissions, stronger governance capacity, improved supply chain traceability, and the development of a sustainable shrimp brand that meets the increasingly stringent requirements of export markets.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Khanh Hoa Provincial Agricultural Extension Center, in collaboration with the Northern Center for Marine Aquaculture Research and the Van Hung Public Service Center, recently organized a training course on disease-free golden pompano seed production. The program is part of a National Agricultural Extension Project aimed at developing industrial-scale seed production models to support sustainable marine aquaculture.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s pangasius exports have shown encouraging signs of recovery in 2026. In the first four months of the year, total export turnover reached USD 720 million, up 17% compared to the same period last year. This result reflects improving demand across many markets, as well as the efforts of Vietnamese pangasius enterprises to maintain production, secure orders, and adapt to changing market conditions.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The application of high technology in shrimp farming is delivering positive results in the coastal areas of Vinh Long Province, contributing to improved production efficiency and creating significant potential for further industry expansion. However, to fully capitalize on this potential, the province is focusing on aquaculture zoning, infrastructure investment, and promoting modern, sustainable production.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Đồng Tháp Province has intensified efforts to curb illegal fishing by strengthening vessel monitoring, law enforcement and seafood traceability.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Seafood businesses need solutions to overcome bottlenecks such as labor shortages, difficulty accessing capital, high input costs, and administrative procedures in order to maintain production, adapt to market fluctuations, and effectively exploit export opportunities.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The FTA would widen access to markets with strong demand for premium food products in line with the country’s strategy of shifting exports towards increasing added value.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) On the morning of July 13th, Mr. Ho Quoc Dung, Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam and Deputy Prime Minister, along with his delegation, visited and worked with businesses in An Giang province to promptly resolve obstacles and promote production and business activities.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) As importing markets increasingly focus on biosecurity and traceability, Vietnam has established a relatively comprehensive legal framework and disease management system for aquaculture, covering tilapia farming as well as other cultured species. This system is based on the Law on Animal Health, regulations on the prevention and control of aquatic animal diseases, the National Plan for the Prevention and Control of Major Diseases in Farmed Aquatic Species, and environmental monitoring and early warning programs for aquaculture areas.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) On July 9, 2026, the Embassy of Vietnam in Brazil organized the seminar titled “Sharing Information on Vietnam-Brazil Economic, Trade and Investment Relations in the First Half of 2026” to provide updates on bilateral cooperation and strengthen connections among government agencies, industry associations, and business communities of the two countries.
VASEP - HIỆP HỘI CHẾ BIẾN VÀ XUẤT KHẨU THỦY SẢN VIỆT NAM
Chịu trách nhiệm: Ông Nguyễn Hoài Nam - Phó Tổng thư ký Hiệp hội
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Trưởng Ban Biên tập: Bà Phùng Thị Kim Thu
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