When Russia is excluded from SWIFT, seafood exports face difficulties and opportunities.

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Russia is a potential market for Vietnam's pangasius exports. Photo: Nguyen Thanh

Mr. Duong Nghia Quoc, Chairman of the Vietnam Pangasius Association, said although the proportion of Vietnamese pangasius in the Russian market is not too large compared to other markets such as the US and China, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as well as the subsequent exclusion of Russia from the SWIFT payment network, will surely affect enterprises in this field.

Exports will face more difficulties. After Russia was removed from the SWIFT payment system, some businesses could not pay for the delivered orders.

According to Mr. Quoc, Russia currently accounts for less than 2% of Vietnam's total seafood export turnover, including pangasius. However, Russia tends to increase seafood imports from Vietnam, so this is also a potential market.

Since the beginning of the year, the situation of exporting pangasius has been favorable. The price of pangasius increased, while businesses are very "thirsty" for labor to increase processing capacity and meet orders.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict may affect the increase in market share of Vietnamese pangasius in the Russian market, but Mr Quoc assessed that "there is still a chance for danger". In fact, Russia is a large pollock exporting country, the Russian pollock market is mainly in the US, EU, and China. This is also the main export market of Vietnamese pangasius.

In the past, Vietnamese pangasius had to compete fiercely with Russian pollock in the US, China, and the EU, but with the current situation, Russia's pollock exports faced difficulties, which may help the demand for pangasius increase. Thus, Vietnamese pangasius has the opportunity to increase the volume and value of exports to the US, EU and China.

Truong Dinh Hoe, General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said that, in the current context, Vietnamese seafood enterprises must regularly contact and obtain information through importers.

“The problem now is mainly focusing on the payment channel, then shipping. The situation is causing many difficulties in the future, how to focus on solving each problem one by one needs a specific plan," said Mr. Hoe.

VASEP General Secretary expressed his hope that in the near future the Russia-Ukraine conflict will be resolved, thereby helping export activities to the Russian market return to normal.

After Russia was excluded from the SWIFT international payment system, economic expert Nguyen Minh Phong said that payments for imports and exports of goods will face certain difficulties.

However, this tension only temporarily interrupted import-export trade of the two sides, not completely.

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"Russia is a potential market and has a high demand for agricultural and aquatic products, especially in winter, while the quality requirements for imported agricultural products that the Russian market offers are not as high as the European market. This is an opportunity for Vietnamese goods to penetrate this market at the moment if the two sides can soon find a new payment direction," Mr. Phong said.