Vietnam exports first shipment of 700 tons of tilapia to Brazil

The imminent arrival of Vietnam's inaugural tilapia export shipment at a Brazilian port holds not only commercial significance but also serves as evidence of joint efforts to promote economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, especially as bilateral ties have been upgraded to a strategic partnership and Brazil's recognition of Vietnam as a market economy.

This was affirmed by Vietnamese Ambassador to Brazil Bui Van Nghi in an interview with TTXVN reporters in South America, on the occasion of the first 24-ton container of Vietnamese tilapia departing Ho Chi Minh City's port on November 6 to be exported to Brazil via JBS Group, Brazil's largest food corporation.

Ambassador Bui Van Nghi emphasized that this represents a concrete result of enterprise connections, market expansion and affirmation of the quality of Vietnamese agricultural and aquatic products in the Brazilian and broader Latin American markets.

This is one of 32 containers, totaling 700 tons of tilapia - ordered by JBS, with products set to enter supermarket shelves, the Horeca distribution channel, and JBS’s showrooms in Brazil. The current container is expected to arrive at Santos Port on December 17.

JBS Group currently employs 280,000 personnel, operates 150 factories across many countries and leads the world in beef and chicken production; it is also investing $150 million in two beef processing plants in Vietnam.

According to Ambassador Bui Van Nghi, this event represents a new development in economic and trade cooperation between Vietnam and Brazil, materializing the mutual agricultural market opening agreement between the two countries that Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Brazilian President Lula da Silva committed to during their high-level meeting on the sidelines of the expanded BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro in July 2025.

Both sides agreed to continue opening agricultural markets to each other. Vietnam will open its market to Brazilian beef, while Brazil will open its market to Vietnamese tilapia, tra and basa fish.

Ambassador Bui Van Nghi also stated that the Vietnamese Embassy in Brazil will continue to accompany businesses and localities of both countries, supporting promotion, connections and resolution of difficulties to enable more Vietnamese products to penetrate deeper and wider into the Brazilian and South American markets.

Meanwhile, Marcio Rodrigues, JBS Group's Executive Director in charge of market access, assessed that this event reflects the increasingly solid partnership between JBS and Vietnam, strengthened through specific activities such as investments in Vietnam, job creation and expanded imports of Vietnamese products.

Currently, the two countries are promoting negotiations toward signing a Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) bloc, in the context of Brazil serving as the rotating chair of the bloc in 2025, while enhancing connections between businesses, associations and relevant ministries and sectors to facilitate bilateral trade development in a direction of market diversification, balanced interests and sustainable development.

According to Dan Viet