Processing shrimp for export at a plant of the Minh Phú Group in southern Hậu Giang Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Vũ Sinh

HCM CITY — Shrimp experts and businesses gathered at the Shrimp Summit 2023 in HCM City on Tuesday to seek measures to tackle challenges facing the shrimp sector in Asia and worldwide, ensuring the sector's sustainability and resilience to climate change.

Addressing the event, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Phùng Đức Tiến said that Việt Nam has high potential in aquatic farming, especially brackish water shrimp farming.

He noted that the shrimp industry has played an important role in Việt Nam's seafood exports during the past two decades. Each year, the shrimp industry contributes about 40-45 per cent of the total seafood export value, equivalent to US$3.5-4.3 billion. Currently, Vietnamese shrimp has been exported to 100 countries, with the five largest markets being Europe, the US, Japan, China and the Republic of Korea.

To date, about 200 shrimp processing factories in Việt Nam have been examined and approved by the European Commission, he said, adding that Việt Nam has been the second largest shrimp supplier, providing 13-14 per cent of the total shrimp exports in the world.

Tiến said that the Vietnamese shrimp sector has maintained stable export growth at nearly 7 per cent over the past 20 years.

However, it is facing numerous challenges, mostly from the COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts and market fluctuations, especially since 2022, he said, underlining that the Government has issued many programmes and projects to boost the sector’s sustainable growth, contributing to the global shrimp sector.

Tiến said that during the summit, scientists, experts and businesses focused their discussions on the industry's important issues, giving forecasts on production, market demand, updating standards for shrimp products and innovation in farming techniques.

Nguyễn Việt Thắng, chairman of the Vietnam Fisheries Society, said that currently, the fisheries sector is employing more than five million labourers, including more than one million in the shrimp sector.

He highlighted contributions that the shrimp sector has made to the country’s economic development as well as major challenges it is encountering.

Thắng said that he hopes though the summit, international experts and buyers will share with their domestic peers advanced technologies in varieties production, environmental protection, disease management, and water management, as well as the market demands and cooperation opportunities in shrimp trading.

Lê Văn Quang, general director of the Minh Phú Fisheries Group, said that Việt Nam currently has more than 700,000 hectares of shrimp farms, able to meet the various demand of more than 100 countries. Việt Nam has developed ecological and organic shrimp farming models with high value, meeting sustainability standards.

Within the framework of the summit, participants visited a number of farm production and processing facilities in the Mekong Delta province of Cà Mau.