Addressing the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung acknowledged and praised achievements of the fishery sector over the past 60 years. He noted that the fishery sector has made strides in offshore seafood exploitation, contributing to protecting national sovereignty over sea and islands while expanding export markets.
The government official said that the fishery sector is considered a strategic production sector which should be modernised to become a sector with sustainable development, capable of competing and integrating into the international economy.
The sector is also expected to gradually enhance income for fishermen while helping to protect the environment, fishery resources and national defence and security, Deputy PM Dung said.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong emphasised that with a long tradition and constant effort, the fishery sector has overcome huge difficulties and challenges to grow from a small-scale production sector to a key pillar of the national economy with the highest growth among the agricultural, forestry and fishery sectors.
On the occasion, the sector was presented with the Labour Order, first class, in recognition of its outstanding achievements over the past 60 years.
The Vietnam’s fishery sector has made significant breakthroughs over the past 60 years. The sector posted over 7.74 million tonnes of fishery products in 2018, 5.6 times higher than in 1995. Vietnamese fishery products have been exported to more than 170 markets worldwide with total export revenue of nearly US$9 billion in 2018.
The country currently has more than 600 enterprises specialising in the area of fishery processing and export, creating jobs for approximately 5 million people, making Vietnam become one of leading fishery exporters in the world.
