YORKSHIRE “chippies” could soon be selling fish from Vietnam.
So it could be catfish and bits, or a snakehead fish butty!
The move follows a trade tie-up involving the Huddersfield-based Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.
The Aspley-based chamber has helped to forge links between the UK and Vietnamese food technology industries – which could provide a solution to the problem of falling fish stocks in European waters.
The chamber’s international trade team played a leading role in managing an international business project partly funded by the European Union through its Asia Invest Programme, which aims to promote and strengthen business links between Europe and Asia.
Members of the chamber team travelled to south Vietnam to provide a week of training to key people in the food industry in the areas of international trade, leadership and management and food technology.
The training gave representatives from Vietnamese businesses support associations, food companies and research centres a broader understanding of UK requirements for food standards and packaging as well as detailing market trends.
Later, the chamber hosted a trade mission to the UK by 10 delegates from the Vietnamese food sector and took them on a whistle-stop tour of the region to visit the Sea Fish Authority and Yorkshire seafood businesses in Hull as well as Oakes-based Country Park Foods.
Chamber development manager Susana Cordoba said: “This was the first important step to assisting the South Vietnamese delegation to forge links with their British counterparts.”
She also joined an EU delegation made up of UK and Italian representatives of food industry support and research organisations on a five-day programme to Vietnam – including a conference in Ho Chi Minh City and visits to food producers in the provinces of Ben Tre and An Gian.
Ms Cordoba said: “The delegates were very impressed with the high quality standards in the factories and processes, which were the same level or even higher than those in Europe –Šopening clear opportunities for co-operation in the seafood sector.”
She added: “There is huge untapped potential for trade between Europe and Vietnam – which is a fast-growing country with a young population – and we are delighted to have played a role in the successful delivery of this programme.”
One of the delegates on the Vietnam business, food specialist Elsa Fairbanks, said: “While opportunities for UK companies at this stage are likely to focus on supplying technical expertise to the emerging Vietnamese food processing industry, there is significant potential for the supply of frozen fish and seafood and also exotic fruits from Vietnam into Europe.”
