Seafood processors and exporters need to invest in advanced technologies and expand markets to match orientation to restructuring the agro-fisheries sector in the direction of improving added value and sustainable development, said Dr. Dao Trong Hieu from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Agro Processing and Market Development Authority.

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Seafood processors and exporters need to invest in advanced technologies and expand markets to match orientation to restructuring the agro-fisheries sector in the direction of improving added value and sustainable development, said Dr. Dao Trong Hieu from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Agro Processing and Market Development Authority.

In an interview recently granted to the Vietnam News Agency, Hieu said the sector needs to deal with issues such as the quantity and quality of input materials, low-cost resources and workforce. Meanwhile, over half of processed products still bring trademarks of foreign importers.

According to him, the most difficult is how to synchronise the supply of materials and consumption.

Domestic firms are yet to be self-sufficient in materials while linkage among production-processing-consumption of aquatic products remains loose, he said.

Apart from policies issued by the Party Central Committee, the centrally-run cities and provinces need to continue studying and issuing their own mechanisms to promote the development of their local processing sectors, contributing to lowering production costs and improving added value. At the same time, authorities should build a legal framework and assist firms in large-scale farm produce cultivation, he concluded./.