Vietnam is estimated to gain seafood export earnings of nearly 1.1 billion U.S. dollars in the first five months of this year, up 23.2 percent over the same period of last year, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers on Monday.

The country is boosting export of different seafood items, including shrimps and prawns, to traditional markets such as China, the United States, the European Union and Japan, and some new ones like the Middle East, East Europe, Africa and South America.

It is also focusing on increasing quality of the products, intensifying their trade promotion, and enhancing its capacity of forecasting seafood prices and export demand, said the association.

Vietnam has targeted to raise its aquaculture acreage to 1.1 million hectares with output of nearly 2.1 million tons in 2010 from expected 980,000 hectares with output of roughly 1.5 million tons in 2006, the association said.

The country has eyed seafood export turnovers of 3.1 billion dollars this year, up from over 2.7 billion dollars last year.

Source: Xinhua