Hanoi, Apr 15 (IANS): Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has called for increased efforts to address the challenges faced by the forestry and fishery sectors, including declining demand, intense competition, and fluctuating prices, in order to boost production and exports, local media reported.

The forestry and fishery sectors are facing several challenges such as a high dependence on imported raw materials, declining consumer demand in major markets like the US, EU and Japan, and policy changes in various countries, local newspaper Vietnam News reported on Friday.

The leader asked ministries and localities to diversify markets, establish supply chains, cut costs and simplify procedures, the newspaper reported.

He ordered the industry to switch to sustainable, multivalued integrated production while enhancing competitiveness associated with developing the processing and preservation industries, Xinhua news agency reported.

Priorities must be given to ensuring food safety, protecting the ecological environment and encouraging the development of green, organic and circular agriculture, he said.

In the first quarter of 2023, Vietnam's total trade value of agroforestry-fishery products decreased by 11.2 per cent year-on-year to $20.6 billion, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The export of timber and forestry products saw a significant drop of 28 per cent, and fishery products 27 per cent.

The country set the target to earn $17.5 billion from the export of timber and forestry products, and $10 billion from the export of fishery products, said the Ministry.