HO CHI MINH CITY, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's southern Mekong Delta provinces will apply advanced technologies in producing tra fish, a common kind of catfish favored by many foreign countries in the world, Vietnam News Agency reported Wednesday.

Under a project on producing high-quality catfish species in the Mekong Delta recently approved by the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, a three-level catfish fingerling production chain will meet 50 percent of the demand for high-quality catfish in the delta by 2020, and 100 percent of the demand by 2050.

The project will build up a chain of catfish production in the region, focusing on An Giang and Dong Thap provinces. It is expected that the catfish chain of Vietnam will be strictly controlled, from the first to final stage in the production chain.

Mekong provinces must re-plan production, diversify their seafood products, with priority given to value-added products, and find more export markets, said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong.

Vietnamese tra fish exports in the first seven months of this year increased by 19.3 percent over the same period last year to nearly 1.2 billion U.S. dollars.

Specifically, catfish exports to China reached 289.8 million U.S. dollars, up 40.6 percent, according to the agriculture ministry.