Vietnam exports $5.37bn seafood in 10 months of 2013

Vietnam pocketed 5.37 billion U.S. dollars from seafood exports in the first ten months of 2013, an increase of six percent over the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) on Tuesday. In October alone, the country earned 689 million U.S. dollars worth of seafood products. During the 10-month period, the United States remained the largest importer of Vietnamese seafood, accounting for 21.7 percent of the country's total export value. Exports to other big markets such as China, Canada and Thailand have also seen encouraging growth at 55.3 percent, 21.6 percent and 10.6 percent, respectively. However, some markets such as Australia, South Korea and Italy, witnessed decreases, said the ministry. As of Oct. 20, the domestic fishery sector produced more than 2. 37 million tons of seafood products, marking a modest rise of 3.5 percent year on year. According to the ministry, the output is far below the target set by the sector to be at seven million tons by 2020. Along with this productivity, seafood exports are projected to reach 11 billion U.S. dollars by 2020 with an average annual growth rate between seven and eight percent. Between 2020-2030 periods, the sector plans to harvest nine million tons of products, of which 70 percent will come from aquaculture, and export turnover is forecast to hit 20 billion U.S. dollars, said the ministry.