Seafood exports increased by 15% in the first four months of 2026. VASEP proposes removing barriers related to labor, raw materials, and procedures to achieve the target of 12 billion USD.

In the first four months of 2026, Vietnam's seafood exports continued to show positive signs of recovery, with a growth rate of 15% compared to the same period last year. To reach the target of $12 billion for the whole year of 2026, VASEP urgently recommends removing institutional, raw material, and administrative procedural barriers.

One of the issues of particular concern to businesses is the labor shortage in the seafood processing industry. VASEP recommends solutions to stabilize the workforce, limit the mass export of labor from areas experiencing labor shortages, and rationally plan industries within the same region to avoid localized labor competition.

Regarding the development of seafood raw materials for processing and export, VASEP proposes building a comprehensive program to stabilize and develop the supply from domestic aquaculture and fishing to imported raw materials.

Specifically, it is necessary to focus on improving the quality of breeding stock, controlling diseases, reducing production costs, and continuing to invest in fisheries infrastructure, fishing ports, fishing vessel monitoring systems, and traceability databases to combat IUU fishing.

Source: Vietnam.vn