'Shrimp King' Minh Phu: 'Vietnamese shrimp can rise to lead the world'

'If the disease problem is solved and farming areas are planned properly, Vietnamese shrimp can absolutely rise to become the world's leader,' Mr. Le Van Quang affirmed.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), in the first 9 months of 2025, Vietnam's shrimp exports reached more than 3.4 billion USD, an increase of 22% over the same period in 2024 - recording the strongest growth in the past 3 years.

The main driving force comes from the recovery of demand in major markets such as China, the US, the EU and the CPTPP bloc, along with businesses' flexible adaptability in product and market structure - despite facing tariffs from the US.

Mr. Le Van Quang, Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Minh Phu Seafood Corporation, said that Minh Phu's shrimp export turnover this year is expected to reach 560 million USD. Photo: Hong Tham .

The shrimp industry has long established itself as one of the pillars of Vietnam’s agricultural economy . As one of the four largest shrimp producing countries in the world and among the top three shrimp exporting countries, the shrimp industry not only contributes significantly to the country’s export turnover but also creates livelihoods for millions of workers, contributes greatly to rural economic development and protects the marine ecological environment.

On the nearly half-century journey of the Vietnamese shrimp industry, there is one man who remains steadfast in his aspiration to “bring Vietnamese shrimp to the open sea”. That is Mr. Le Van Quang, Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Minh Phu Seafood Corporation, the man known as the “Shrimp King” Minh Phu.

Sharing with reporters of the Agriculture and Environment Newspaper, Mr. Quang modestly said: “In the general success of the Agriculture and Environment sector, Minh Phu is just a small company in the seafood sector in general, and the shrimp sector in particular, but it has also contributed to some extent. Minh Phu once became the world's largest shrimp exporter, contributing to the overall export turnover of the industry, while creating jobs for more than 15,000 workers.”

He added that Minh Phu's shrimp export turnover this year is expected to reach 560 million USD and Minh Phu shrimp is now present in almost all major markets in the world.

However, the biggest difficulty facing the Vietnamese shrimp industry today is the unreasonable planning of farming areas, leading to complicated disease developments, resulting in high production costs - even 30% higher than in India and twice as high as in Ecuador, reducing competitiveness.

Faced with this reality, Minh Phu focuses on developing value-added products and high-end products to compete with other countries such as India and Ecuador; at the same time, promoting green and clean shrimp farming models, circular economy, ecological shrimp, shrimp - forest, shrimp - rice...

Mr. Quang emphasized: "Vietnamese shrimp has great potential, but its output is not high. If we solve the disease problem and plan farming areas properly, Vietnamese shrimp can absolutely rise to become the world's leader."

Minh Phu once became the world's largest shrimp exporter, contributing to the industry's overall export turnover and creating jobs for more than 15,000 workers. Photo: Hong Tham .

According to Mr. Quang, Vietnamese seafood processing and exporting enterprises have strengths in deep processing, which many other countries have not achieved. However, they are constantly improving and shortening the gap. If Vietnam is not careful and continues to innovate, they can completely surpass them. Therefore, the core solution for sustainable development and improving competitiveness for Vietnamese shrimp enterprises is nothing other than reducing shrimp farming costs to the same level as India and Ecuador.

Mr. Quang proposed that our country's shrimp industry needs to re-plan farming areas, link land consolidation to form large-scale concentrated shrimp farming industrial zones, combine the application of science and technology and environmental standards, aiming to increase productivity, reduce costs, protect the environment and affirm the Vietnamese shrimp brand on the world map.

Source: https://nongnghiepmoitruong.vn/vua-tom-minh-phu-con-tom-viet-nam-co-the-vuon-len-dan-dau-the-gioi-d783855.html