MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Vietnam targets Brazil and Chile as seafood markets

Vietnamese businesses are looking to South America for new market opportunities for a range of competitive products, including seafood, trade officials said. Brazil has authorized 60 Vietnamese companies to export fish products to the country the Vietnam Trade Office in Brazil confirmed, reports Vietnam Net.

So far, Brazil has imported Vietnamese seafood products via businessmen from third countries. However, Vietnam's Trade Counsellor in Brazil, Pham Ba Uong, said they first need to acquire information from trade offices in South America in order to understand the demands of the market.

In the meantime, numerous Brazilian importers have come to his office in order to connect with catfish (pangasius) exporters in Vietnam, Uong said.

He went on to say that the Brazilian market, with its population of over 190 million, offers new opportunities to Vietnamese companies in the face of shrinking markets caused by the global economic crisis.

In the last few years many Vietnamese companies have visited Brazil to look for new business opportunities with Hanoi administration officials and business executives recently attending a Vietnam-Brazil business forum in the South American country.

At the meeting, Vietnamese businesses and their Brazilian partners discussed co-operation in numerous areas, including seafood.

Trade between the two countries has increased by 60% per year between 2005 and 2008 reaching 534.5 million US dollars. The target for this year is 500 million and one billion USD by 2010.

Chile is considered another promising market, with the Vietnamese trade office actively supporting businesses from back home. Chilean importers have expressed a particular interest in ordering Vietnamese basa catfish (also known as panga).

The Vietnamese trade counsellor in Chile, Nguyen Tuan Viet, has strongly recommended that Vietnamese businesses showcase their products and trademarks on the Internet and improve quality in order to gain market share in Chile.

All businesses allowed to export seafood to Brazil must adhere to the strict seafood production procedures required by the Brazilian Inspectorate of Fish and Fishery Products (DIPES).

Some Vietnamese seafood, such as shrimp and crab, has not yet been granted permission to enter the Brazilian market. (FIS).-