Generally, in the first 2 months of 2020, imports of seafood reached US$253.89 million, down 3.9% over the same period in 2019, accounting for 0.7% of the total turnover.

In the first 2 months, India has become the leading supplier of seafood to Vietnam, accounting for 15.6% of the total import turnover, reaching 39.64 million USD, up 38.3% compared to the same period in 2019. In February 2020 alone import from India reached US$18.9 million, down 7.9% compared to January 2020 but up sharply 73.6% compared to February 2019.

The second largest market was Norway, accounting for 12% of the total turnover, reaching 30.46 million USD, down 10.1% compared to the same period in 2019; of which in February 2020 alone reached US$15.54 million, up 5.6% compared to January 2020 and up 10.8% compared to February 2019.

Imports from Indonesia in February 2020 increased by 12.4% compared to January 2020 and increased sharply by 118.9% compared to February 2019, reaching US$14.11 million; bringing the total import turnover in the first 2 months to nearly US$27.14 million, accounting for 10.7% of the total import turnover, up 33.1% over the same period last year.

Imports from Japan in February 2020 also increased sharply by 41.9% compared to January 2020 and by 13.1% compared to February 2019, reaching US$13.75 million; bringing the total import turnover in the first 2 months to US$ 23.48 million, accounting for 9.3% of the total import turnover, up 8.5% over the same period in 2019.

In the first 2 months of this year, there were several markets that have increased sharply over the same period in 2019: Import from Malaysia, up 144.1% to US$1.83 million; from Poland increased by 38.7%, reaching 0.91 million USD; Canada increased by 37.3% to 4.9 million USD; Myanmar increased by 33.4% to US$0.69 million.

 In contrast, imports dropped sharply from the following markets: Singapore decreased by 94.5% reaching US$0.08 million; South Korea decreased by 52.5% reaching 6.88 million USD; England  fell 43.4% reaching 2.45 million USD.

Domestic seafood enterprises have proposed many financial solutions to help them overcome difficulties in production and business during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, according to the Việt Nam Association of Fisheries (VASEP).

At present, many seafood enterprises need loans from banks while the banking loans have high interest rates. The annual interest rate of medium- and long-term loans is 7 per cent at large commercial banks and 10.5 per cent at small commercial banks. In addition, the interest rate is from 6-8.5 per cent for Vietnamese đồng loans and from 4-4.5 per cent for US dollar loans.

The businesses have suggested exempting or reducing fees for financial services and business activities, including free services during transactions at banks and fee reductions for services relating to import and export activities.

Market	February 2020 ( USD)	+/- vs. January of 2020 (%)	First 2 months of 2020 ( USD)	+/- vs. same period of 2019 (%)	Market share (%)
Total	135,325,654	14.89	253,891,454	-3.88	100
India	18,904,233	-7.87	39,635,060	38.34	15.61
Norway	15,535,973	5.62	30,464,138	-10.14	12
Indonesia	14,106,087	12.42	27,136,405	33.1	10.69
Japan	13,748,359	41.9	23,477,669	8.45	9.25
Taiwan (China)	11,712,128	42.94	19,842,039	29.63	7.82
Chinese mainland	5,729,387	-46,71	16,342,057	-21.93	6.44
Russia	9,426,840	144.44	13,283,389	-21.14	5.23
The U.S	4,727,275	-24.44	10,950,685	3.32	4.31
EU	4,153,065	-3.39	8,451,987	-5.31	3.33
Chile	5,525,831	90.45	8,427,247	-17	3.32
South Korea	3,838,027	26.11	6,881,510	-52.54	2.71
Canada	2,979,666	55.14	4,900,270	37.27	1.93
Denmark	2,149,173	-19.65	4,823,958	22.3	1.9
Thailand	1,829,916	12.26	3,460,068	-14.35	1.36
England	1,542,555	70.68	2,446,335	-43.42	0.96
Malaysia	1,314,848	156.2	1,828,829	144.08	0.72
Poland	387,118	-26.26	912,079	38.66	0.36
Philippines	610,341	199.28	876,026	-28.21	0.35
Myanmar	189,774	-61,7	685,330	33.43	0.27
Ireland	74,219	-62.02	269,615	0.11
Singapore	34,954	-20.07	78,685	-94.47	0.03

 T.Huong

Source: Vitic/Vinanet.vn