The four-day Global Shrimp Outlook conference, held by the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA), opened in Ho Chi Minh City on October 25, 2005 with the participation of 250 businessmen and experts from 25 countries, who are top leaders of famous market and restaurant chains around the world, including McDonald’s, Yumm Brands, Darden Restaurant, Wal-Mart, Coastco, Sysco and Carefour. The US had the largest number of participants, 89 and Vietnam, 46. This was the biggest ever conference held by the GAA. The GSOL in Vietnam set a record in terms of its number of participants.
At the 2005 GSOL conference, world leading experts discussed the shrimp farming industry’s outlook for the next three years, from 2006 to 2008, forecast the development of markets, mainly in the US, Japan and the EU, analysed the development of strategies of the global shrimp industry and proposed solutions to the existing hot issues. Years ago, when the shrimp farming industry remained underdeveloped and producers were those who decided prices and markets, prices were too high. The situation has changed with a rapid increase in shrimp output in the world. With two million tonnes of shrimps supplied each year, it is now the customers who decide the price and quality of shrimp. Therefore, producers around the world, including Vietnam, should promote co-operation with customers to satisfy market requirements, which are expressed in three factors: food safety, environmental safety, and social security and equality, which means that more jobs should be created in combination with ensuring social equality. Among these three factors, food safety is the highest requirement for shrimp producers.
The GSOL conference was also an opportunity for Vietnam to present its overview about Vietnam’s production and selling of shrimp to foreign guests, helping them understand more about the Vietnamese shrimp industry. George W. Chamberlain, president of GAA, said that Vietnam had many small-sized shrimp farms, so Vietnam could make low-cost products, which was one highly competitive factor in the world market. He, however, also analysed that this advantage might be turned into a disadvantage, as it made the country difficult to control product quality and hygiene security. He said small-sized farms should co-ordinate action and turn themselves into large-sized alliances to solve the above-mentioned problems, as well as to protect the environment for the industry's further development.
Dr Nguyen Huu Dung, general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said that Vietnam’s shrimp industry should know exactly its position. The industry was facing three main challenges, including environmental pollution due to a rapid development of the industry, a large farming technology gap and prices. According to world experts, the price of small-sized shrimps may be put at between VND 30,000 and 40,000 per kilogram while the price of a kilogram of between 30 and 40 shrimps may stand at between VND 50,000 and 60,000. This would require producers to find ways to cut their prices. Therefore, only those who master shrimp farming technology and management capability, and have large capital sources can exist.
Regarding anti-dumping lawsuits, Chamberlain said that the GAA always supported fair trade and did not support the use of trade barriers to protect a group of incapable or less competitive producers in any way. The lawsuit is no longer a dispute between American and Vietnamese shrimp producers. Instead, it has become a dispute among shrimp producers in all over the world. The GAA has invited some leading legal firms in the US, which represent some countries in the anti-dumping lawsuit and representatives from American importers to the conference, so they could present viewpoints on the lawsuit. He went on to say that he appreciated the Vietnamese shrimp industry for it had successfully overcome the lawsuit and perhaps, it had gained some experiences from the catfish dumping lawsuit.
The conference attracted many seafood buyers, who buy fish and other seafood apart from shrimps. Therefore, the organisers of the 2005 GSOL conference gave Vietnam an opportunity to present its production and selling of tra and basa catfish, to help foreign customers understand more about Vietnam’s potential.
Hai Nguyen
Vietnamese
