The huge potential of marine product exports, mainly aquaculture will be showcased at the three-day India International Seafood Show (IISS), a biennial event being organised here from September 23 to 25.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Union Minister for Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu, Union Minister of State for Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman and delegates from all over the world will participate in the show being conducted jointly by the Marine Products Export Development Authority and the Seafood Exporters Association of India.
In an e-mail interview, MPEDA Chairman Dr. A. Jayathilak told The Hindu they were confident of a bright future for India seafood products in AP but also in other maritime States as the potential is yet to be tapped fully.
Excerpts:
What are the thrust areas for discussion at IISS?
A: Considering the need of the industry, the technical sessions of IISS-2016 will discuss the latest technological developments in aquaculture as well as the regulatory requirements in trade. The thrust areas of discussions are regulatory requirements in seafood trade, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, trade initiatives and fiscal issues in the seafood industry and fish trade related international requirements.
What is the number of foreign delegates and from which countries you are expecting large contingents?
A: We are expecting 2,500 delegates. Delegates are already registered from the US, the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Greece, Japan, Vietnam, Canada, Egypt, the UAE, the Netherlands, Thailand, China, Finland and the UAE. We are expecting around 350 foreign delegates. The maximum number of delegates is expected from the US, Japan and Vietnam.
Going by declining trend in exports witnessed last year, how do you expect that this year we can reverse it?
A: Export of marine products during August this year recorded an increase of 16.07 per cent in the rupee value, 13.29 per cent in quantity and 10.73 per cent in US $ earnings as compared to exports during the same period last year.
Similarly, cumulative exports during April- August 2016 also recorded an increase of 16.63 per cent in the rupee value, 10.91 per cent in US $ earnings and 6.74 per cent in quantity when compared to the corresponding period last year .
Considering these statistics, we can expect that marine products export will increase in 2016-17.
MPEDA envisages export of marine products worth 5.6 billion US dollars during 2016-17