HANOI, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Tra Fish and Vietnamese Seafood Products Fair opened here on Friday with 40 firms displaying various kinds of seafood at nearly 100 booths.
Addressing the three-day fair, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam said brackish water shrimp and tra fish, a common kind of catfish, are two key export items of Vietnam's seafood industry, and should be promoted to more domestic and foreign consumers.
Tra fish producers and processors in Vietnam are seeking ways to expand their markets in Vietnam's northern region and foreign countries, including China.
Vietnam earned nearly 6 billion U.S. dollars from exporting seafood in the first nine months of this year, seeing a year-on-year rise of 19.2 percent, according to the agriculture ministry.
The country made seafood export turnovers of nearly 7.1 billion U.S. dollars last year, with 44 percent coming from shrimps and prawns, 24 percent from tra fish and 7 percent from tuna.
