Vietnam aims to take larger share in booming Middle East seafood market

The seafood industry has grown to become the country's fourth largest revenue earner, fuelling Vietnam's position as one among the top ten exporters in the highly competitive global market. With aims of further exposing their fisheries and aquaculture products to the Middle East market, two Vietnam-based seafood producers have successfully participated in the recently concluded Sea Food Expo 2007 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dubai.

Leading seafood producers Le Anh Company and Mekong Group's participation at the expo was highlighted by a showcase of Vietnam's renowned seafood products, which is reflective of the Vietnamese Government's aim to double its shipments to demanding markets such as the EU, US, Japan, and the Middle East.

Leveraging the outstanding participation of leading trade customers within the event, the Vietnamese participants have recognised the tremendous opportunities to carry out trade promotions, build brand awareness and highlight its capacity to address global prices and demand for sea food products. The companies' intensified activities in the event are in line with Vietnam's significant strides towards reaching its 2008 seafood industry annual turnover target of $4.25bn.

"The Vietnamese Government has clearly identified the need to target the booming seafood market in the Middle East, which has emerged as a top destination for seafood exports among leading global sources across the globe," said Raees Ahmed, Director, Orange Fairs & Events.

"As the first widely-recognised exhibition dedicated to the seafood industry in the region, we have provided emerging seafood exporters such as Vietnam a result-driven platform to establish important business ties and build their own name in the international seafood arena. More importantly, we are proud to have played a significant role in advancing a vital global industry."

In addition to penetrating established seafood markets, Vietnam is also looking into tapping new and potential-laden seafood markets of Africa, South America, China, Canada and South Korea. Through their participation at the expo, both Vietnamese companies have successfully capitalised on the huge number of international attendees within the event. The inaugural Sea Food Expo attracted 5,000 visitors from across the globe who gathered to gain industry knowledge and new technologies in seafood processing, and foster business relationships with potential local, regional and international companies within the event's three-day run.

"Through the participation of leading international and regional exhibitors from the global seafood industry, it brings us tremendous pride to announce that the first Sea Food Expo 2007 has ended with a resounding success. Having facilitated outstanding number of sales and closed deals, and with 95% of exhibitors confirming for bigger participation in the next edition, we are looking forward to mounting Sea Food Expo 2008 with expectations to beat the records we had set last year. This success has definitely motivated us to work harder to establish the Sea Food Expo as a one of a kind industry exhibition, by enhancing the capacity of the event to accommodate more participants, while developing more features to complement the requirements of both exhibitors and buyers from across the globe," concluded Ahmed.

Orange Fairs is the organiser of Middle East's first exhibition dedicated to the seafood industry, in addition to more than 100 exhibitions in Africa, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Middle East and Eastern Europe. The prominent events company has a portfolio that includes of a wide range of in multi-million industries such as oil and gas, telecommunications, IT, health, automobiles and gold and jewellery, as well as in the electrical and electronics, manufacturing, metalworking, printing and packaging, hotel and building and construction sectors.