Seafood exports set to top 7 billion USD this year   Workers process fishery products at the Ngo Quyen Export Seafood Processing JSC, in Kien Giang province (Photo: VNA) HCM City - The country’s seafood exports are expected to reach 7 billion USD this year, a year-on-year increase of 5.5 percent, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Producers and Exporters (Vasep). Truong Dinh Hoe, Vasep’s general secretary, said: “Seafood export revenues this year will surely reach 7 billion USD or may be a little more than that. “In the early months of the year the seafood sector faced difficulties and challenges. Then a balance in supply and demand in the world market helped the prices of some seafood products recover.” Thanks to that, exports of certain items like shrimp and tra fish have increased this year, though the growth was not high, he said. The country earned 5.7 billion USD from exports in the first 10 months of the year and shipments are expected to increase significantly in the remaining months of the year because demand in the main import markets usually goes up during the year-end festive season, he said. “We have high expectations for seafood exports in the two remaining months of the year. This will be an encouragement for seafood exporters amid market difficulties as well as a slow recovery in key export markets. This will be a foundation for us to prepare better for 2017.”- VNA