Cà Mau facilitates trade by shrimp, regional speciality producers

The southern province of Cà Mau has been focusing on trade facilitation to help local shrimp and OCOP businesses sell their specialty products in both domestic and export markets.

Shrimp is Cà Mau’s key product, with annual output topping 250,000 tonnes (22 per cent of the country’s total output). Its shrimp products have been exported to over 60 countries and territories around the world, with the main markets including the US, the EU, Japan, and China.

The province has 41 seafood processing plants, who produce around 250,000 tonnes of products a year. Local businesses produce a wide variety of processed products such as steamed, sushi and tempura shrimp, which are well received by consumers.

Nguyễn Chí Thiện, director of the Cà Mau Department of Industry and Trade, told Việt Nam News: “The province has been paying a great deal of attention to creating favourable conditions for local businesses to partake in trade facilitation events for both the domestic and overseas markets.”

Every year, the province takes part in trade fairs and facilitation events in several countries in the region, providing businesses with financial subsidies to join them and find new export partners.

Cà Mau has also organised many trade facilitation events and helped local businesses take part in similar activities in other provinces in the Mekong Delta region and across Việt Nam. Through them, many businesses have found partners and markets, especially those selling OCOP (One Commune One Product) goods.

Cà Mau has 32 four-star and 113 three-star OCOP goods made from high-quality natural ingredients like seafood, honey, rice, and other regional produce. Some are exported to markets such as Canada and Australia.

These goods are being sold through modern retail channels around Việt Nam and linked with tourism areas in the province. They are also sold on e-commerce platforms, especially the province’s madeincamau.com, which features all of Cà Mau’s OCOP products.

The province pays much attention to promoting and helping OCOP businesses sell their goods through a wide variety of channels.

The province's 2023 Cà Mau Shrimp Festival and Mekong Delta OCOP Products Network Connection Forum, which ends today, provide businesses with opportunities to introduce their shrimp and OCOP products to locals and visitors from other provinces.

Trade facilitation events for promoting OCOP products and for businesses to share experiences and network were held as part of the festival.

​Nguyễn Minh Thái, chairman and director of Mắm cá mào gà Co-operative Group, which specialises in processed fish and other seafood products, told the Việt Nam News that in addition to the Cà Mau shrimp festival, the province has also organised trade facilitation trips to other localities. Local co-operative groups can go on up to six such trips every year.

Cà Mau helps businesses like his improve the quality standards of their OCOP products and acquire machinery and equipment, he said.

Overcoming challenges

Despite the province’s trade facilitation efforts yielding positive results, its exports face some challenges. Geopolitical changes around the world have caused economic difficulties, which in turn have led to a fall in consumption and demand.

Cà Mau and Việt Nam are facing tough competition from other shrimp suppliers like Ecuador, India, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, who are offering competitive prices.

To overcome these challenges, Cà Mau’s shrimp exporters need to keep a firm foothold in their traditional markets while expanding to new ones by keeping their prices competitive.

Cà Mau has instructed its departments of Industry and Trade and Agriculture and Rural Development and other relevant agencies to carry out solutions and assist farmers in areas such as fish fry breeding and farming, Thiện said.

New policies are being created to help farmers adopt modern technologies and save costs either by saving energy or having lower input costs, and these would make the prices of Cà Mau’s shrimp products more competitive, he added.

“I believe that in 2024, if Cà Mau Province, businesses, especially seafood exporters, and farmers all carry out the province's decisive solutions simultaneously, we can overcome this challenge.”

Huỳnh Quốc Việt, chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said at the opening ceremony of the Cà Mau Shrimp Festival on December 10: “Cà Mau Province wishes to and is committed to creating favourable conditions for investors to explore and do business in Cà Mau, and play a role in taking its shrimp brand and other produce with great potential in Cà Mau and the Mekong Delta even further around the world, allowing them to participate in global value chains.”