(vasep.com.vn) On May 9th, Consulate General of Vietnam in Sydney (Australia) and Vietnam Trade Office Mission in Australia organized the ceremony to honour Norman Grant, President of the Seafood Importers Association of Australia (SIAA), with memorial medal for his contribution to trade promotion of Vietnamese seafood in Australia.
At the ceremony, Mai Phuoc Dung, Head of Consulate General of Vietnam, highly appreciated SIAA's cooperation and support for Vietnamese fishery industry, especially Norman Grant's works in solving challenges faced by Vietnamese seafood exporters to Australia.
Over the recent years, Vietnam reported high growth in exports to Australia. However, Vietnamese exporters have met many challenges to entry the market, compete with other suppliers and satisfy requirements on food safety and technical barriers, highlighted Mr. Dung. He expressed his hope that Mr. Grant would keep supporting Vietnamese seafood products imported into Australian market.
At his speech, Norman Grant also expressed his delight to receive the memorial medal. The cooperation between SIAA and Vietnamese agencies - including General Consulate in Sydney, Vietnam Mission in Australia, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) - has brought considerable results, he said. SIAA will keep supports to Vietnamese fishery industry in the future.
As the president of SIAA, Norman Grant has had many activities and initiatives to boost imports of Vietnamese seafood products into Australia over the past years, bringing benefits to communities in both countries. In 2013, Vietnam exported US$180 million of seafood products to Australia. The figure is expected to be over US$200 million in 2014.