Malaysia is currently a potential market to promote the export of Vietnamese aquatic products, especially white fish and pangasius products.

The Department of Malaysian Quarantine Inspection Services (MAQIS) is the authority to issue permits for the importation of raw fish, fish and fish products into Peninsular Malaysia and the Federal Territory of Labuan. The importation of raw fish to Sabah is subject to an import permit administered by the Sabah Fisheries Department. Meanwhile, the importation of raw fish to Sarawak is subject to import permits administered by the Sarawak State Fisheries Office for sea fish and the Sarawak Agriculture Office for freshwater fish. The importation of fish and fish products to Sabah and Sarawak requires an import and wholesale license administered by the Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia or Lembaga Kemajuan Ikan Malaysia (LKIM) in both states.

Import permits cover all fish as defined in the Fisheries Act 1985. Fish refers to any aquatic animal or plant and including all species of fish with fins, crustaceans, molluscs, aquatic mammals, or eggs thereof, juveniles, fingerlings, but excluding any species of otters, turtles or the eggs of them.

According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, in 2021, Malaysia imported 1.11 billion USD of aquatic products from other countries. The top three countries include as follow: China (20% market share, equivalent to a turnover of 222.5 million USD), Indonesia (14.4% market share, corresponding to a turnover of 160.2 million USD), Thailand (11. 5% market share, equivalent to a turnover of 128.1 million USD). Viet Nam ranked 4th with a turnover of 123 million USD, accounting for 11.1% market share in this market.

According to Viet Nam Custom’s statistic, in the first nine months of 2022, Viet Nam's aquatic export turnover to Malaysia reached 113.5 million USD, increasing 33.6% over the same period in 2021.

Before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Malaysia has been a potential export market for Viet Nam's aquatic products in ASEAN, especially in terms of pangasius besides two other markets which are Thailand and Singapore. Since the pandemic occurred, trade activities to this market have been interrupted and reduced. Under the influence of the economic recovery, the country's seafood consumption demand has been increasing, in which the import demand for pangasius products has been also growing sharply. This is such a good opportunity for Vietnamese aquatic exporters to consolidate and increase their market share in Malaysia./.