Ca Mau Set to Net US$1 Billion in 2010

Ca Mau is striving to earn a turnover of US$1 billion from seafood export in 2010, an average increase by US$100 million per annum in next five years. This is a tough challenge for Ca Mau’s seafood processing industry during Vietnam’s international integration.

 

Last year, despite many difficulties, Ca Mau earned more than US$510 million from seafood export, bringing the province’s total seafood export value in the 2001-2005 period to around US$2 billion, accounting for around 20 per cent of Vietnam’s total seafood export value. In comparison with 2000, the province’s processing capacity increased by 1.97 fold, its output increased 2.05 fold, and export turnover rose 2.5 fold. At the same time, Ca Mau has introduced modern processing establishments with close partnership with importers from more than 40 countries and territories. Ca Mau’s shrimp have entered major and hard-to-please markets.

 

One of the factors which have helped Ca Mau make a great development leap is investment in new technology and equipment and efforts to expand markets. Local enterprises have quickly adapted themselves with the developments of markets, with many enterprises, such as Minh Phu and Camimex, having becoming leading seafood exporters in Vietnam. To that end, Ca Mau’s enterprises have invested more than VND 700 billion in building, upgrading their plants. The province now has had 27 plants for processing frozen shrimp, grilled fish and fish powder with 97 cooling blocks and IQF (individual quick freezing) lines, many of which are modern. Local enterprises have applied the seafood hazard analysis critical control points (HACCP), having met food hygiene and safety requirements by the Ministry of Fisheries. Many of them have been granted ISO quality management certificates and codes to export their products to the EU.

 

Investment policies have helped local enterprises minimise the export of raw shrimps of low economic value, having diversified their products with a focus on processing products of high economic value. As a result, the contribution of value added products to the province’s export turnover increased from around 20 per cent in 2000 to 50 per cent at present. Local enterprises now have produced many shrimp products and sold them to foreign supermarkets. In particular, local enterprises cannot meet the demand for exported safe shrimp products.

 

At the same time, local enterprises have paid great attention to trade promotion and market development.

 

To earn an export turnover of US$1 billion, apart from processing tiger shrimp as its spearhead products, Ca Mau will boost the processing of other seafood products to meet the market demand. Also, the province will concentrate on and creating favourable conditions for enterprises to process products of high value, increasing output and value of a product unit. The province will strive to increase the contribution of processed tiger shrimp from 63.35 per cent at present to 80 per cent and increase the contribution of value added products to 60 per cent in 2010. Accordingly, Ca Mau will encourage local enterprises to invest in expanding their production and business activities, building new seafood processing plants to add 58,100 tonnes to its total export processing capacity, bringing it to 157,000 tonnes per annum in 2009. The province will increase processing capacity of existing plants by 30 per cent, equal to 18,000 tonnes, and build around eight new plants with a total capacity of 40,000 tonnes with a total investment capital of VND 240 billion. The province will encourage local enterprises to process non-shrimp products from fish, crabs and cuttlefish, and build canned seafood and high-end seafood processing plants. Local authorities will promote the management of food hygiene and safety in processing plants by requiring them to apply international quality management systems and programmes to their processing activities. The province will consider food hygiene and safety as a decisive factor for increasing competitiveness and gaining a sustainable development.

 

The province will concentrate on major markets for its spearhead products and will adjust its policies in accordance with developments of each market. The province has identified the US, Japan and the EU as major markets while considering Australia, Canada, Russia, China and the Republic of Korea as potential markets. At the same time, a focus will be given to local market as a driving force for boosting the development of export markets. On that basis, the province will create favourable conditions for enterprises to boost their trade promotion activities, considering it a decisive factor for a sustainable development with an aim of earning US$1 billion in seafood export turnover in 2010.

 

Ca Mau will create favourable conditions for local enterprises to develop their shipment and delivery of goods, and payments in accordance with the market rule. A concentration will be given to the development of trademarks for Ca Mau’s seafood products with support for local enterprises to build their own trademarks. Furthermore, the province will prioritise the development of material supply areas, promoting a close relationship between seafood farmers and processors to build sustainable material supply areas, thus helping local processing enterprises to have stable material supplies. The province will also combine the farming and processing of seafood products to protect the environment and maritime resources.