Norway Pavilion debuts at VIETFISH 2026

The Norway Pavilion officially opened on August 19 as part of VIETFISH 2026, bringing together 11 leading Norwegian companies and organizations.

They are nine companies: SalMar, Skretting, GenoMar Genetics AS, PHARMAQ, ScaleAQ, Optimar, Fjell Technology, Benchmark Genetics, and TechValue, and two organizations: the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) and the Norwegian Seafood Federation.

Strengthening a long-standing partnership

This marks the first time Norway has hosted a pavilion at Vietfish, as well as the largest-ever participation of Norwegian companies and organizations at the event. It reflects the growing depth and scale of Norway - Viet Nam cooperation in fisheries, aquaculture and sustainable seafood development.

Mr. Erlend Skutlaberg, Chargé d’affaires at the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Viet Nam, said the event takes place as Norway and Viet Nam celebrate 55 years of diplomatic relations and the Green Strategic Partnership.

“As coastal nations and among the world’s leading seafood exporters, Norway and Viet Nam share many common interests and priorities in developing sustainable aquaculture, seafood value chains and ocean-based industries. For decades, fisheries, aquaculture, and the sustainable management and use of marine resources have been natural areas of cooperation and have become important pillars of our bilateral relationship,” he said.

Norway’s experience, technology and expertise effectively complement Viet Nam’s ambitious goals and growing capabilities in these fields.

Bringing animal welfare into the value chain

By bringing together Norwegian companies and organizations operating across the fisheries and aquaculture sector, the pavilion not only showcases expertise, technologies and solutions, but is also expected to create new opportunities for cooperation and knowledge exchange, while helping add value to Viet Nam’s seafood industry.

Mr. Filip Fleischer, Sales Manager at Optimar, considers slaughter timing and animal-handling methods important factors in modern seafood production.

“We bring electric stunning technology that helps process shrimp in a way that reduces stress during processing. Through our shrimp welfare project, this equipment has been introduced to several seafood processing companies in Sri Lanka, Ecuador, the Netherlands, Venezuela and Viet Nam (Vung Tau),” he said.

According to Mr. Fleischer, the technology not only meets growing market demands for animal welfare but also helps improve raw material quality, providing an advantage as consumers and importers increasingly pay attention to the production processes behind each product.

Meanwhile, SalMar is showcasing automated tailing machine. The equipment separates the heads from the bodies while minimizing meat loss around the neck. At large processing volumes, recovering even a seemingly small amount of additional meat can generate significant value.

Mr. Ngo Van Thu of SalMar said the Vietnamese market has changed significantly over the past decade. While salmon was once a relatively unfamiliar product, Vietnamese consumers are now more familiar with it and increasingly willing to pay for high-quality products, including organic salmon.

“This year also marks 10 years since our company exported its first batch of organic salmon. We pioneered organic salmon farming in northern and central Norway. The process requires stricter standards for stocking density, feed and farming areas. For example, farming cages must not be treated with copper-based antifouling agents,” he said.

Norway also views large-scale offshore aquaculture as the next generation of aquaculture. Over two production cycles, SalMar has produced 10,000 tonnes of salmon. Automation and artificial intelligence enable large-volume production with fewer workers, while also reducing losses from extreme weather and natural disasters.

Norway will organize a Technical Seminar on green and sustainable technology solutions for aquaculture and seafood processing. In coordination with the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) and the Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Surveillance, the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Viet Nam will also host a roundtable on value-chain linkages toward sustainable production of high-value fishmeal and fish oil.