For the first time, Vietnamese tilapia enters the Brazilian market.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Brazil, Phạm Văn Hải, in an interview with the Vietnam News Agency, stated that the first container of tilapia weighing 24 tons departed from Ho Chi Minh City Port on November 6, imported by the global meat processing giant JBS Group from Brazil. Ambassador Phạm Văn Hải pointed out that this batch of products is a concrete result of active cooperation and market expansion between Vietnamese and Brazilian enterprises, further demonstrating the quality and reputation of Vietnamese agricultural and aquatic products in the Brazilian and Latin American markets.

This batch of tilapia is part of the first order placed by JBS Group with Vietnam, totaling 32 containers and approximately 700 tons of products. The goods will gradually enter JBS's supermarket system, HORECA (Hotel/Restaurant/Catering) channels, and product display centers in Brazil, with an expected arrival at Santos Port on December 17.

JBS Group, a leading enterprise in the global beef and poultry production sectors, employs a total of 280,000 people and operates 150 factories in multiple countries. Currently, the group is investing in the construction of two beef processing plants in Vietnam with a total investment of $150 million.

Ambassador Phạm Văn Hải emphasized that this export is a specific action to implement the consensus reached by Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and Brazilian President Lula da Silva during the BRICS Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro in July 2025. Both sides have committed to mutually opening their agricultural product markets—Vietnam opening its market to Brazilian beef, and Brazil granting access to Vietnamese tilapia, basa fish, and catfish.

Ambassador Phạm Văn Hải stated that the Vietnamese Embassy in Brazil will continue to actively support cooperation between enterprises and localities of the two countries, strengthen promotion and facilitation, solve problems, and help more high-quality Vietnamese goods to deeply explore the Brazilian and South American markets.

JBS Group's Executive Director of Market Expansion, Márcio Rodrigues, noted that this cooperation reflects the increasingly close partnership between JBS and Vietnam. The two sides are continuously consolidating their strategic cooperation through various measures, including investment in the construction of processing plants in Vietnam, creating jobs, and expanding the import of Vietnamese products.

Currently, Vietnam and Brazil are jointly promoting negotiations for a free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR). With Brazil serving as the rotating chair of MERCOSUR in 2025, both sides are actively promoting exchanges between enterprises, industry associations, and relevant ministries, creating a more favorable institutional environment for the diversification, balance, and sustainable development of bilateral trade.