Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s shrimp exports to theRepublic of Korea are likely to rise 30 percent year on year to approximately 500million USD in 2019, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers(VASEP) has predicted.

The forecast was attributed tostable demand, high export prices and tariff incentives introduced by theVietnam-Korea Free Trade Agreement, VASEP said.

According to the association, therewere untapped opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises to accelerate theirshrimp exports to the lucrative market.

In order to utilise theseopportunities, experts have said Vietnamese shrimp exporters need to improvequality of their products and update procedures and requirements in the RoK toovercome technical barriers that hinder shipments.

Last year, Vietnam was the leadingshrimp provider for the RoK, accounting for 58 percent of the country’s totalshrimp imports, statistics from the International Trade Centre showed.

Vietnam far surpassed othercompetitors in the Korean market, including Thailand (11.2 percent), Ecuador(10.5 percent) and China (4.8 percent).

The Southeast Asian country exported386 million USD worth of shrimp to the RoK in 2018, marking a modest increaseof 1 percent over 2017, according to the data.

According to VASEP, the RoK was thefifth largest importer of Vietnamese shrimp 2018, making up 11 percent of theVietnam’s total shrimp export value.-VNA