A marine farming project worth 30 million USD has been licensed in principle in the southern province of Kien Giang, expected to produce 30,000 tonnes of saltwater fish for export each year.

Kien Giang's authorities grant the approval for the marine farming project of Mavin Group at an investment promotion conference on July 29 (Photo: VNA)

The seafood farming centre, invested by Mavin Group – a joint venture between Vietnam and Australia, will cover 2,000ha of water surface off the coast of Kien Hai district to farm the fish species with high value like bass, grouper and Trachinotus blochii.

Mavin said the project, scheduled to become operational in 2021, will apply modern marine farming technologies.

Environmental protection and origin traceability will also be ensured to meet the European Commission’s recommendations to Vietnam about fighting illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, thus facilitating the project’s exports.

Aside from this project, Mavin has also inked memoranda of understanding on several others with Kien Giang province, including a breeding centre for mariculture, a factory producing food for aquaculture, and a seafood processing plant.

The total investment in these projects amounts to 50 million USD, the firm said, noting that they will help it complete the production chain to optimise the manufacturing process and minimise cost.

They will also help turn Kien Giang into a major marine fish farming and processing hub in Southeast Asia, Mavin added.

Aside from marine farming, this group is investing in some freshwater fish farming facilities in the Hoa Binh and Tuyen Quang hydropower reservoirs in the northern region. It is also running several animal feed, veterinary medicine and food processing factories in the provinces of Hung Yen, Ha Nam, Nghe An, Binh Dinh, Tien Giang and Dong Thap.