Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam’s tuna exports showed a gradualrecovery in the last quarter of 2023 and have strongly grown again in the firstmonths of this year, promising a surge throughout 2024 and a return as a commodity with billion-USD export value, according to the Vietnam Association ofSeafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Amidst the overall decline in aquatic exports, tuna exportsalso saw a drop of 17% to 845 million USD in 2023. However, from the last few months of 2023, they havebegun to recover. In January of this year, the tuna export turnover reachedover 79 million USD, surging by 58% year-on-year.

Nguyen Ha, VASEP tuna market expert, said he believes that this is a positive sign for tuna exports in 2024.

The growth in January helps lift the export turnover ofthis product to 131 million USD in the first two months of 2024, up 21% over thesame period last year.

The result was attributed to efforts by businesses to expand export markets.

According to VASEP, Vietnamese exporters shipped tunaproducts to more than 80 markets worldwide. Enterprises have mitigated risks by diversifying their exportdestinations to compensate for the decline in major markets.

For instance, in February, while tuna exports to key markets such as the US andthe European Union (EU) saw a sharp drop, the shipments to many smaller markets recorded strong growth such as Canada (up 146%), and Chile (up 116%).

To overcome difficulties and challenges and to bring tuna back to the list ofbillion-USD exports, businesses need to fully tap free tradeagreements (FTAs) Vietnam signed with the EU and the UK, insiders said.

The UK is seen as a promising market for Vietnam’s tuna, howeverthe export value of this product to the European nation remains modest, accountingfor only 1% of the UK’s tuna import value.

The Ministryof Industry and Trade’s Import and Export Department said thatVietnamese tuna has gained advantages in the UK market thanks to tariffpreferences provided by the Vietnam-UK FTA (UKVFTA). Tuna exports to the markethit 5.5 million USD in the first nine months of 2023, up 48% year-on-year.

The department rolled out various scenarios for exploitingthe UK market for Vietnamese tuna during 2022 – 2025. It forecasts thatthe tuna export turnover to the market will gradually recover and averagely expandby 8 - 9% per year in the period./.