VASEP Supports Hurricane Victims

Viet Nam News, September 6, 2005

HA NOI — The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) is calling for its business members and Vietnamese fishermen to give material and spiritual support to Hurricane Katrina victims.

VASEP’s General Secretary Nguyen Huu Dung late last week sent a letter to US Ambassador to Vietnam Michael W. Marine, asking him to convey VASEP’s condolence to the US Government and the American people for the huge loss of life and property caused by Hurricane Katrina in the southern American states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

VASEP’s letter expressed the deep sympathy of more than 200 Vietnamese seafood processors and exporters, as well as Vietnamese fishermen, for the huge loss of humans, fishing means and production establishments of those states due to the hurricane.

The letter stated that working in the fishery industry and often having to shoulder the burden of loss caused by hurricanes and floods, VASEP quite understands tragedy and the long aftermath of the disaster to its American counterparts, adding that Vietnamese fishermen are standing by their US counterparts.

The letter affirmed that VASEP would like to contribute to supporting the victims to overcome the terrible disaster. The association also expressed its desire to join hands with its US counterparts to establish co-operative ties aimed at sustainable development and mutual benefits.

On the same day, VASEP’s Dung also sent condolence letters to the three states’ governors for the losses. — VNS