Vietnam spent approximately US$80 million importing seafood from Norway between January and April, Asbjørn Warvik Rørtveit, Southeast Asia regional director of the Norwegian Seafood Council, said at a cooperation agreement signing event in Hanoi on Tuesday.

Vietnam is the second-largest buyer of Norwegian seafood in Southeast Asia, said Rørtveit.

The country imported some 21,300 metric tons of seafood from Norway in the first four months.

Vietnamese tend to consume many salmon, mackerel, and crabs from the Northern European nation, heard the event.

Vietnam’s Norwegian seafood import value surged 113 percent in 2020-23.

The Southeast Asian nation has emerged as Norway’s key seafood importer amid shrinking global seafood consumption, according to Rørtveit.

He also revealed at the signing ceremony of the Norwegian Seafood Council and WinCommerce that Vietnam’s Norwegian mackerel imports soared to over 30,000 metric tons in 2023 from 19,000 metric tons in 2020.

Rørtveit underlined that the deal between the council and the Vietnamese retailer was aimed at making it easier for Vietnamese consumers to trace the origin and quality of Norwegian seafood via a ‘Seafood from Norway’ label.

Nguyen Tien Dung, deputy general director of the Winmart store chain, owned by WinCommerce, said that Norway is famous for the quality of its seafood.

Norway is one of the world’s largest seafood exporters with a developed value chain thanks to stringent regulations on seafood hunting and farming, sustainability, and environmental protection.

Over the past few years, Norwegian seafood has been listed among Vietnamese’s most favored imports. 

The cooperation is expected to provide consumers in Vietnam with high-quality products.

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