Agriculture & Food

In order to help Vietnamese localities, enterprises and cooperatives supplying aquatic products take advantage of the preferential policies of the regional comprehensive economic partnership agreement (RCEP) to find partners and welcome business and export opportunities, the Trade Promotion Bureau of the Ministry of industry and trade of Vietnam and the commercial office of Vietnamese embassies in RCEP Member States jointly held a video Trade Fair of aquatic products in Vietnam and RCEP markets from May 30 to 31.

At present, Vietnam exports aquatic products to more than 160 markets in the world. Among them, exports to RCEP member countries account for more than 63% of the export market share, mainly to ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea. In the first five months of 2022, Vietnam's aquatic products exports reached US $4.5 billion, a year-on-year increase of 44.5%. Among them, the export of Chayu and shrimp reached 2.8 billion US dollars.

Lihuangcai, deputy director of the Trade Promotion Bureau of the Ministry of industry and trade of Vietnam, said that over the years, the achievements made by Vietnam's fisheries have further highlighted that Vietnam's fisheries are one of the industries with sufficient competitiveness and can more vigorously enter the markets of RCEP member countries.

Nguyen Meng Tong, the third secretary of the commercial department of the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan, said that in 2021, Vietnam's total exports to Japan reached US $1.33 billion, a decrease of 7% compared with the same period in 2020, accounting for 74% of the total exports of agricultural and aquatic products in the market.

According to the statistics of Japanese customs, the largest aquatic products exported by Vietnam to Japan are frozen shrimp (accounting for 22% of the total import of Japanese shrimp), shrimp products (accounting for 36% of the total import of Japanese processed shrimp), octopus (accounting for 38% of the total import of Japanese Octopus), etc. The competitors of Vietnamese shrimp and crab products in the Japanese market are Indonesia, India and China.

Nguyen thi Qiushui, deputy director of the export assistance center of the Trade Promotion Bureau of the Ministry of industry and trade of Vietnam, stressed that in addition to opportunities, RCEP brings competitive pressure to aquatic products. In the face of this situation, aquatic product enterprises take the initiative to adapt and turn challenges into opportunities.

In addition, in order to take advantage of the preferential policies of RCEP and improve the comparative advantages of Vietnam's fisheries, Vietnamese enterprises should fully understand the rules of origin and meet the provisions of the agreement on animal and plant health and quarantine measures (SPS) and technical barriers to trade (TBT) of the importing country.

Therefore, the Fair provides convenience for Vietnamese aquatic product enterprises to find partners in RCEP market, and is an opportunity for enterprises to understand the market requirements and technical barriers of RCEP member countries.

In addition, this event is also a good opportunity for Vietnamese aquatic products enterprises to introduce their products to RCEP market and find potential customers.

RCEP officially came into effect on January 1, 2022, providing new opportunities for aquatic product export enterprises to participate in the regional value chain and production chain, and helping enterprises to increase the export of aquatic products to Japan, South Korea, China and other markets.