AEC could revolutionize fish & seafood industry

At the 27th ASEAN Summit, November 18-22, in Malaysia, leaders of the ten ASEAN member nations signed the 2015 Kuala Lumpur Declaration officially establishing the AEC as of December 31.

The 10 member nations of the AEC that form the free trade region comprise Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The AEC is another step toward reshaping the nation’s economy by working with domestic and foreign businesses, foreign purchasers, and government leaders to find new trade opportunities and making Vietnam an economic hub for the region.

If the stars line up, for just 2016 alone, economic experts report exports of seafood and aquatic products in the top six markets could potentially expand by 30-35%. For comparison purposes in the last five years the nation’s total exports for these markets expanded 33.6%.

So it is conceivable that seafood and aquatic exports in 2016 could equal or exceed the industries growth for the whole of the last five years combined if the nation’s fishermen and aquaculture farmers can grasp the opportunities.

According to statistics from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), Vietnam and Thailand remain the two leading suppliers of seafood and aquatic products for the global marketplace.

VASEP General Secretary Truong Dinh Hoe said the two most important obstacles for exports in the AEC region and globally relates to food safety and hygiene matters as Vietnam’s seafood, in particular, has been tarnished by food safety violations of a few non-responsible businesses.

“If the poor practices of these relatively few negligent businesses can be overcome and the image of the industry improved many opportunities will follow both in the AEC region and internationally,” said Hoe.

“I cannot overemphasize the importance of ensuring food safety and hygiene to success within the AEC trade bloc as all of the advertising and marketing cannot erase the damage done by lack of attention to fundamental food safety.”

Hoe said those who utterly disregard the importance of food safety are a scourge on the industry and the reputation of the nation and handicap all those honest fishers and businesses that follow the rules.

With the AEC formation, VASEP believes the time is ripe for Vietnam to develop a new consortium of Vietnam based fishing and seafood companies that have the forward thinking savvy to not only lead— but revolutionize the industry./.

Source: VOVnews