Hanoi (VNA) – The Comprehensive and ProgressiveAgreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is opening the door wide forVietnamese tra fish, a major foreign currency earner, to enter the markets of10 other members of the deal.

According to the Vietnam Association of SeafoodExporters and Producers (VASEP), the 10 countries are importing Vietnamese trafish with the turnover ranging from over 1 million USD to about 100 millionUSD.

Mexico is currently the biggest purchaser,importing more than 99.4 million USD worth of tra fish from Vietnam in 2018. Itis followed by Canada (48.04 million USD), Australia (46.84 million USD),Singapore (45.98 million USD), Malaysia (38.33 million USD) and Japan (32.2million USD).

Last year, Vietnam’s tra fish exports to theCPTPP members totalled 328.3 million USD, up 17.3 percent year on year. Theshipments to most of these markets enjoyed strong growth, particularly Malaysiaup 72.2 percent, Australia 34.4 percent, Singapore 20.7 percent, and Canada19.5 percent.

Under the agreement, import tariffs on most ofaquatic products, including tra fish, will be eliminated. Therefore, businessesbelieve that this is a chance for Vietnam to bolster tra fish exports to bothtraditional and potential markets in the CPTPP bloc.

[Aquatic businesses feel windfall from CPTPP]

Among the CPTPP members, Mexico is the mostimportant market of Vietnamese tra fish because it is not only the biggestimporter in the grouping but also ranks first in Latin America and fifth in theworld in this regard.

Although the tra fish shipment to Mexico fell4.65 percent in 2018, it has been rising sharply this year, reaching 40.8million USD in the first four months – up 31.5 percent year on year.

Meanwhile, Japan has yet to be a major market ofthe Vietnamese product, but exports to it have reported impressive growth inrecent years. The tra fish export value to Japan soared 37.6 percent in 2018compared to the previous year. 

The revenue continued to surge 38.6 percent to8.58 million USD between January and April of 2019, making Japan one of the top10 markets of Vietnamese tra fish in the first quarter.

Though Chile is still is a small purchaser, goodgrowth has also been seen in tra fish exports to this market, 15 – 24.3 percentbetween 2016 and 2018.

Despite the modest turnover, Vietnam has becomethe biggest supplier of white flesh fish for this country.

Insiders believe that there remain muchpotential for the Southeast Asian nation to expand its tra fish market share inChile. Additionally, with the CPTPP, Chile has great potential to become abridge helping Vietnamese tra fish enter 33 markets in Latin America.-VNA