Restructuring tra fish sector in Mekong Delta provinces

At the working session, representative from the Steering Committee for the South-West region said tra fish is one of the Vietnamese key export items. Over the past ten years, tra fish farming areas has amounted to 6,000 ha, increased by 5 times while its production has risen by 36 times to 1.35 million tons. The Vietnamese tra fish export value increased by 45 times, from US$40 million in 2000 to US$1.74 billion in 2012, accounting for 34.4 per cent of the Viet Nam’s fisheries sector’s total export value and contributing to 2.2 per cent of GDP. Currently, Vietnamese tra fish products are present at 149 countries and territories.

According to with the Steering Committee for the South-West region, although Vietnamese tra fish is accounting for over 90 per cent of the global tra fish export market, the sector in the MeKong region has faced a number of obstructions over the past three years. Reduction in farming area and yield, the imbalance between supply and demand and fluctuating market prices has negatively affected the farmers’ income. Therefore, it’s necessary to restructure the tra fish sector, focusing on financial issues and the management capacity of farmers, businesses and chain linkages.

According to experts, restructuring the tra fish sector is identified as a long-term process, requiring a co-operation between stakeholders including farmers, businesses and banks.

Deputy Head of the Central Economics Committee, Le Vinh Tan highly appreciated the role of the Steering Committee for the South-West region in linking between farmers and businesses in the region, adding that the restructuring needs to improve the product quality, remain consumers’ credibility and increase profits for those who are engaging in. Apart from this, it needs to ensure the linkage between the stages of production and distribution, the farmers and businesses and within businesses. Also, it needs to restructure on business finance and business governing to create close linkage between banks, business and tra fish farmers.

            Ho Diep