Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim has called upon foreign importers and traders to import seafood from Bangladesh and invest in Bangladesh’s fisheries sector.
The minister made this call during an exchange of views with importers and business representatives of various countries at the Bangladesh Pavilion at the Global Seafood Expo 2023 in Barcelona, Spain on Wednesday.
At this time, the minister also assured all kinds of cooperation from Bangladesh government to the foreign buyers in the case of fish export from Bangladesh.
He also said that the Bangladesh government is ready to provide various facilities including tax exemption if they invest in Bangladesh’s fisheries sector. Besides, the minister also highlighted the various steps taken by the government to overcome the challenges and problems of exporting shrimp and other fishery resources of Bangladesh.
The minister said, “Our export income has increased by 26.96 percent in this financial year through the export of various fish and fish products including shrimp, finfish, dried fish, and crab. The government is supporting the management of shrimp production in various ways, including providing matching grants to the private sector for the production of disease-free Bagda shrimp.”
“The government has taken various initiatives including implementation of the National Residue Control Plan in coordination with the Union policy, establishment of international quality laboratories in the country to control the quality of fish and fish products, regular inspection and monitoring, inspection of fish of importing countries and ensuring compliance with quality control rules and demands” he added. At this time, the minister also said that there has been a revolutionary change in the fishery resources of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is gaining experience from the Global Seafood Expo held in Barcelona on various topics including how the fishery sector of different countries has developed, the use of technology in the fishery sector, fish processing, seafood export.
This year, the International Seafood Expo is being organized in Bangladesh and the minister invited the buyers and experts of various countries related to seafood to participate in this expo.
Ambassador of Bangladesh to Spain Mohammad Sarwar Mahmud, Director General of Fisheries Department of Bangladesh Kha. Mahbubul Haque, Head and Joint Secretary of the Blue Economy Cell of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock of Bangladesh Dr. Abu Naeem Muhammad Abdus Sabur, Minister (Commercial) of Bangladesh Embassy, Berlin, Germany Md. Saiful Islam, Commercial of Bangladesh Embassy, Spain Counselor Md. Redwan Ahmed among other business representatives of different countries were present at this time.
