(vasep.com.vn) On March 21st 2014, in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) in coordination with Norwegian Seafood Council held a conference "Opportunities and outlook in fisheries cooperation between Vietnam and Norway" with an aim to exchange experiences between two sides in aquaculture, seafood processing and exporting. The conference was arranged to take place during the visit to Vietnam by Norway's royal delegation.
Norway is one of the world's largest seafood exporters with salmon as its key product, taking the highest export value. The country makes up nearly 78 percent of the salmon market share in Vietnam. Vietnam fisheries industry can learn a lot from Norway's experiences such as its compliance with food safety requirements, convenient trade methods.
Norway's experiences in managing and developing salmon trade are good for Vietnam to apply in its pangasius industry because salmon and pangasius has some similarities in fast growth, supply-demand disparity and anti-dumping lawsuits. From Norway's experiences, Vietnam can build sustainable production chain to gain significant achievements in pangasius industry, according to Pham Anh Tuan, Deputy General Director of the Directorate of Fisheries.
Amund Dronen Ringdal, Norway's Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, described technology as decisive to aquaculture, expressing his hope that the conference will help the two sides share opportunities in cooperation in order to create green and fresh products.
Presently, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation is funding a project to improve production and trade values of pangasius in Vietnam, helping the country gain a firm foothold in the world market.