The six members were: the World Wildlife Fund Viet Nam, GIZ, the Sustainable Trade Initiative, the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), the Viet Nam Institute for Fisheries Economics and Planning and the Viet Nam Fisheries Society.
The agreement is expected to optimise Vietnamese fisheries production, trade and consumption as well as to help improve environment management in the long term.
All the parties committed themselves to promoting responsible and sustainable fishery practices in the country by providing financial and technical support and implementing promotional activities for certified seafood products at home and in international markets.
Pham Anh Tuan, Deputy Director of the Directorate of Fisheries, said the PPP would create a platform for the public and private sectors to work together, stressing the importance of the private sector to sustainable fisheries development. o
Le Thanh Luu, chairman of the Viet Nam Fisheries Society, said the partnership would strengthen the voice of fishermen and enterprises involved in the development of the fisheries sector.
The partnership agreement was signed at a time when seafood exports have been plunging. Statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development showed that Viet Nam exported US$4.13 billion worth of seafood products in the first eight months of this year, down by more than 17 per cent year-on-year.
Exports of major products such as shrimp, tra fish and tuna registered drops.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam expected that the partnership would help make Vietnamese seafood products more competitive.
In another move, the VASEP has proposed that loan interest rates for fisheries companies will be lowered in order to support them in coping with the recent currency turbulence that has been weighing down their profits.1
