No longer just a story for agriculture or fisheries sectors, food safety and traceability requirements are becoming mandatory standards if agricultural products want to survive in the market. In Gia Lai, this is being concretized through synchronized movements from production to consumption.
Raising production standards, strictly controlling inputs
With its 134km long coastline and abundant river, stream, lake and dam systems, fisheries sector is identified as one of important pillars of the province. However, instead of developing extensively as before, the province is shifting towards sustainable development, strictly controlling fishing and aquaculture activities.
Gia Lai is steadfast in its orientation towards modernizing fisheries sector, linking exploitation with resource protection and promoting digital transformation in management. One of the key tasks is to control and prevent illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, while also enhancing responsibility of fishermen in protecting aquatic resources.
Currently, the province has 5,743 registered fishing vessels, of which 5,418 are eligible to operate. For vessels that are not eligible to go out to sea, the province has implemented a support policy of 3 million VND/vessel/month along with 30kg of rice/person/month during this difficult period, while also promoting vocational retraining to ensure long-term livelihoods for the people.
Simultaneously, aquaculture is being re-planned in a systematic way, limiting spontaneous development. Industrial farming models and cage farming on reservoirs, linked with environmental control, feed management and waste treatment, are encouraged to be widely adopted. This is an important step to improve product quality right from input stage.
In 2025, the province's aquatic product output is expected to reach approximately 311,835 tonnes and is projected to increase to 314,670 tonnes in 2026. Although the increase is not very large, it clearly reflects trend of in-depth development, focusing on quality over quantity.
Aiming for an export target of US$3.05 billion in 2026
Besides production, Gia Lai is focusing on perfecting agricultural, forestry and fisheries value chain, with deep processing and market expansion playing a key role.
In reality, the province's agricultural products are present in nearly 60 countries and territories, including many demanding markets such as the EU, the US and Japan... This achievement stems from the standardization of raw material areas, granting planting area codes, traceability and improving processing capacity.
In the province, many large enterprises such as Nafoods Tay Nguyen, DOVECO, Quicornac Gia Lai, etc., are playing a leading role, linking with cooperatives and farmers to build concentrated raw material areas that meet international standards.
To continue maintaining and expanding the market, Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee has issued Plan No.127/KH-UBND on actions to ensure food quality and safety, increase processing, and develop the market for agricultural, forestry and aquatic products in Gia Lai province in 2026.
Accordingly, the province has set a series of specific targets: increasing number of establishments achieving certifications such as VietGAP, HACCP, and ISO 22000 by 15%; having over 97% of small-scale establishments sign commitments to ensure food safety; reducing rate of violating samples by 10% each year; and expanding food quality monitoring by 10% compared to the previous year. The goal is to achieve a total export turnover of US$3,050 million in 2026.
These goals are not only technical in nature but also serve as mandatory "barriers" for Gia Lai agricultural products to meet increasingly stringent standards from the international market.
Notably, the province also requested strengthened management along value chain, from production, harvesting, preliminary processing to processing, distribution and consumption; promoting application of digital transformation in traceability and building industry databases. Along with this, it emphasized tightening post-inspection, early warning systems, and handling violations related to food safety, in order to protect consumer rights and the reputation of local agricultural products.
In context of increasingly fierce competition, raising quality standards, increasing processing and ensuring product transparency will not only help Gia Lai maintain its traditional markets but also open up opportunities to access high-value markets.

Source: Vitic/ congthuong.vn