The numbers are looking up
On the morning of November 17, in Cao Lanh City, the People's Committee of Dong Thap province coordinated with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to organize a conference to review the pangasius industry in 2024 and discuss solutions to implement tasks in 2025. Deputy Minister of MARD Phung Duc Tien and Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Dong Thap province Nguyen Phuoc Thien co-chaired the conference.
According to the Department of Fisheries, in 2024, despite facing many difficulties and challenges, such as the prices of some goods and input materials for aquaculture development remaining high. In particular, political conflicts have increased logistics costs, but with the continuous efforts of businesses, the support of management agencies and associations, the Vietnamese pangasius industry has achieved encouraging results in both quality and value.
Pangasius output in 2024 is estimated at 1.67 million tons, equal to 99% compared to the same period in 2023. As of October 15, 2024, pangasius export turnover reached 1.56 billion USD, an increase of 8.9% over the same period in 2023. However, according to the Department of Fisheries, this growth rate is not uniform, the main reason is due to fierce competition from other countries and white fish products.
According to the plan, Vietnam aims to increase value in 2025, striving to reach an output of 1.65 million tons, but aiming for an export turnover of about 2 billion USD. In the context of many fluctuations in production, economic and environmental life, this is a goal that requires great efforts from the entire industry and many functional agencies.
Recommendations for improvement in 6 areas
According to the Department of Fisheries, in addition to advantages, the pangasius industry continues to face many major challenges in 2025 and the following years. According to forecasts from world experts, the market for seafood consumption for food will continue to grow worldwide,... and farmed seafood, including pangasius, will be the main source of supply.
However, the pangasius industry also faces major challenges. In addition to the phenomenon of global climate change causing changes in floods on the Mekong River, negatively affecting the water resources for aquaculture, including pangasius farming, the pangasius industry also faces fierce competition when some countries such as China, India, Indonesia are promoting similar aquaculture and processing...
In particular, the requirements related to the commitment to reduce emissions in the spirit of Vietnam's commitment at the COP 26 Summit require the pangasius industry to make further efforts.
From those challenges, at the conference, delegates proposed and recommended solutions to improve 6 important areas of the pangasius industry:
Firstly, the provincial People's Committee strictly manages the use of drugs and chemicals of unknown origin, drugs used for humans, livestock and poultry to avoid technical barriers of the importing country.
Second, institutes and universities research to improve the quality of breeds to improve the quality of output products.
Third, the Pangasius Association proactively researches the consumption market and eating habits of consumers to support export enterprises in orienting products more realistically.
Fourth, processing and exporting enterprises themselves proactively improve products towards quality and diversity, especially pre-processed products and value-added products... to help increase value and expand diverse market needs.
Fifth, aquatic feed processing enterprises need to pay more attention to the production of mixed feed according to Halal standards, supporting the business's market expansion activities; and finally, hatchery and commercial farming facilities, in addition to strictly complying with industry regulations, need to pay more attention to farming according to Halal certification...
