SAO DAI HUNG - URSA MAJOR: Breaks into Khanh Hoa Fishing Industry

SAO DAI HUNG - URSA MAJOR: Breaks into Khanh Hoa Fishing Industry

Although it is too early to say to with what degree of success Sao Dai Hung - Ursa Major has penetrated the industry, there are indications that it has been doing well. During our very short visit to Ursa Major, Le Xuan Tho, the Managing Director who prefers to be called by his nickname “Leo” explains the main reasons why he hopes to make Ursa Major into a major player in the field. Following is an excerpt of the interview between our reporter and Le Xuan Tho.

Could you please say a few words about your company?

Sao Dai Hung (Ursa Major) owns two factories currently certified by the EU. United Resources Cannery (EU code DH246) specialises in canned tuna, while the Sea Association Factory (EU code DL245) processes fish, mainly tuna loin and fish fillet. Those two factories are finely designed and situated in Suoi dau Industrial Park with only 20 minutes drive form Nha trang, a well-known tourist resort in central Vietnam and Cam ranh, whose 20-km-long white sand beach is considered one of the last true places of paradise in the world.

You say that your factories are fish-related. Why don’t you concentrate in shrimp and other kinds of seafood?

I think that there are enough shrimp processing plants in this area. Moreover, shrimp processing is seasonal. We are looking for something to be processed all year round in bigger volume. According to statistics, in the first 9 months of this year, in terms of volume, fish account for 40.5 per cent of all aquatic product exports. There are many kinds of fish in Khanh hoa Province such as: pomphret, horse mackerel, Spanish mackerel, hairpin and snapper to name but a few. Thousands of tons of all kinds of fish land in different Khanh hoa fishing ports: Bangoi, Culao, Cauda, Vinhtruong… These ports are busy all night discharging, freezing and dispatching the fish to local markets, to canneries and to factories in the region. Our two factories are situated in Suoi dau Industrial Park – within a radius of just over 10 miles from those fishing ports.

As I told you earlier, we specialise in tuna. Why tuna? Tuna is widely produced, traded and consumed in Europe and North America, Japan and other parts of the world. Some countries such as Spain, Italy consume over 2kgs a year per inhabitant. Global tuna catch in the last few years reached the stable level of 4 million tonnes. Vietnam is considered one of the emerging countries for tuna catching. The sea stretching from Quang Binh to Tien Giang provinces and southwards abounds in striped tuna (sarda orientalis), little tuna (euthynnus affinis), frigate mackerel (auxis thazard), bullet tuna (auxis rochei), skipjack (katsuwonus pelamis), yellowfin (thunnus albacores) with our factories are in the centre.

Do you think with such big factories, you will have enough fish for processing all year round?

I think that in the long run, Vietnam will emerge into a big catching country, especially tuna catching. Just look at neighboring countries like the Phillipines, Indonesia, Taiwan and China. Indonesia is the biggest fresh tuna exporter to Japan, and the Philippines is striving to be the biggest tuna exporting country, for example.

At the moment, local supplies are not sufficient due to many reasons, but the chief reason is lack of a modern fishing fleet and the main fishing season lasts only 5 to 6 months.

To solve this problem, Ursa Major is planning to import fish, mainly skipjack and yellowfin for pre-cooked tuna loin.

Besides tuna, based on the strengths of large cold stores, (which can hold at least 3,000 tonnes of frozen fish), facilities and labor, we are targeting to fillet imported cod, pollock, and salmon and then re-export to Europe and Japan.

So, not to beat about the bush, I might boldly reply directly to your question: “yes, there will be enough fish all year round for our factories”.

What is the competitiveness of Ursa Major over other producers?

As I explained earlier, our factories are within reach of fishing ports and catching areas. More than that is the transport convenience.  We hope within a few years that Van Phong container terminal will open, which will be a big plus for our exports. Another factor which makes fish production here much more competitive is the labor force. You know that this business is labor intensive and local workers are quite experienced and knowledgeable. It’s no wonder that Khanh Hoa province is famous in the travel industry but the biggest foreign currency earner turns out fish export. And the unique Fisheries University is situated in Khanh Hoa. We should like to thank our investors, bankers, local government agencies and suppliers. Without their help, assistance and support, it would have been difficult to enter into the industry as strongly as we did.

Since our factories are built in industrial parks (Sudazi) as a favoured business field we get the highest possible tax incentives compared to other factories of the same kind.

In the near future, Vietnam is expected to join WTA, which makes the prospects of exporting easier and I think the Vietnamese agricultural sector will profit from that.

Could we print your address as appears on your name card for our readers to contact you?

Sure. We welcome any business cooperation. If you happen to meet people interested in our factories and products, introduce them to:

URSA MAJOR, LTD (a foreign-owned company)

A4-A8 Sudazi Industrial Park

Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam

Email: ursa@dng.vnn.vn

Website: www.ursa.com.vn

Tel: +84 58 743362

Fax: +84 58 743319