Brackish water shrimp farming and processing in Vietnam, but the Mekong Delta in particular, has considerable growth potential, according to the country’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nguyen Xuan Cuong, who has urged relevant sectors and enterprises to grow the industry and turn shrimp into a national strategic product.
As of early September, the country had 664,000 hectares dedicated to brackish water shrimp farming. By the end of this year, the area will be increased to 683,000 hectares.
As well as wanting ministries and local governments to push the application of scientific and technological advances within the shrimp farming and processing sectors, Minister Cuong has called for more investment in aquaculture infrastructure and for the industry to focus on building large-scale ponds and expanding shrimp production in combination with rice farming.
The minister also wants to see trade promotion activities scaled up to expand the shrimp export market.
Vietnam ships shrimp to 75 markets. But the top 10 importers – including the United States, the EU, Japan and China – make up 95 percent of Vietnam’s total shrimp export turnover.
Vietnam’s shrimp exports in the first seven months of this year totaled USD 1.6 billion (EUR 1.4 billion), representing an increase of 4.6 percent year-on-year, with the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) attributing the growth to stronger demand from main markets and an upward trend of global shrimp prices caused by an overall supply shortage.
