3:24:42 PM | 3/13/2008
The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (Vasep) has just requested that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development assist their 250 members who are facing difficulties due to the dollar devaluation and the shortage of dong, the Saigon Times Daily reported.
Tran Thien Hai, chairman of the association, submitted a petition to the ministry last week stating that while foreign clients are paying local seafood producers in dollars, producers must pay for materials and costs using dong.
“The devaluation of the dollar has placed domestic seafood producers and exporters in a difficult situation, especially with many commercial banks reluctant to purchase dollars as of late,” said Hai.
According to Vasep, the majority of its members are experiencing an over-abundance of dollars and a shortage of dong.
Under the petition, Vasep requested that the ministry offer solutions to the present situation in a timely manner before the situation worsens. Vasep proposed the State Bank order domestic commercial banks purchase dollars in accordance with stipulated exchange rates without a surcharge, which has been imposed recently.
Lastly, Vasep requested that the central Government use their subsidy from increased diesel oil prices to assist fishermen. The association encouraged its members to use other foreign currencies like EUR, GBP, JPY or CAD.
Vietnamese seafood industry set target to gain $900 million export revenues during the first quarter of this year, which is a 28% increase over the previous period. Seafood export sales totaled $550 million for the first two months of this year.
Many seafood exporters signed sales contracts with foreign clients several months ago when a dollar went for VND16,000. These days, a dollar is equal to only VND15,700.
Vu Thanh Phat, director of Hoa Sen Mekong Company in HCMC, said that his company recently delivered five containers of processed seafood worth $450,000 to a Greek client. The transaction was completed using dollars, which drove the company into losses.
“I suffered losses because I have to sell dollars at smaller value in order to have enough dong to pay for materials,” Phat said.
Last November, Phat committed to delivering ten containers of aquatic products to a Polish client. Fortunately, he delivered six containers this January and balanced his accounts with domestic material suppliers, and has cancelled the delivery of the remaining four containers.
In order to avoid further losses, Phat has asked his European clients to pay in euro. If clients insist on paying in dollars, he will increase prices by 10%, Phat said. (
Vietnamese
