Saudi Company To Buy Fresh Water Fish From ECER Aquaculture

September 16, 2008 14:13 PM

Saudi Company To Buy Fresh Water Fish From ECER Aquaculture

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 16 (Bernama) -- Koperasi Permodalan Kuala Krai Bhd (KPKKB) has signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with Aero Supplies and Consulting Pt. of Saudi Arabia for the export of freshwater Patin fish.

The project is part of the East Coast Economic Regions (ECER) efforts to boost the country's freshwater aquaculture industry, the ECER said in a statement here today.

The MoA includes the purchase of 20-40 containers of Patin per month from KPKKB and will generate an income of between RM80-100 million per year.

"The Patin fish-rearing project was started with the cooperation of the Kelantan Department of Fisheries and to date 140 ponds have been identified for use," said KPKKB's chairman, Datuk Seri Abu Raihan Wan Jaafar.

The MoA was signed between the chairman of KPKKB, Datuk Seri Abu Raihan Wan Jaafar, and Aero Supplies chairman, Abdul Rahman Ali Al-Khalaf.

"We will invest between RM15-RM20 million to build a factory to process the Patin in pallets not later than the end of this year," said Abu Raihan.

He added the venture would offer better economic prospects and generate additional income for the Kuala Krai residents who are mostly rubber tapers.

"When the factory is ready, it will open job opportunities for 400-500 workers at the site," he said.

Abu Raihan said KPKKB would work on ventures for black tilapia fish, prawns, and chicken in stages for the export market.

The Patin is in high demand in international markets like Europe, Middle East, and United States.

Locally, the price for the Patin is RM8 per kg and RM4-5 per kg for the wholesale market.

The nations freshwater aquaculture industry has significant growth potential due to expanding demand in both local and export markets.

The national demand for fish-based food is expected to increase from the current 1.2 million tonnes to 1.5 million in 2010. This means, Malaysia's current per capita consumption of fish would rise from 49 kg to 56 kg.

Malaysia exported a total of 283,385 tonnes of fisheries commodity valued at RM2.253 billion in 2004 to countries like the United States, Thailand, Singapore, China, and Indonesia.

Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, the Aquaculture Industrial Zone (AIZ) initiative in the East Coast Economic Region, is projected to develop and improve the nations aquaculture industry.

Aside from that, the AIZ concept is also aimed at increasing the net income of aquaculture participants to at least RM3,000 (U$875) per month.

Malaysia's aquaculture industry was valued at RM1.4 billion in 2007, with the production of 213,780 tonnes of fish.

Aquaculture production is envisaged to increase up to 600,000 tonnes by 2010. Of this, 400,000 tonnes would be produced through marine culture (land and water based aquaculture) while 200,000 tonnes will come from the freshwater fish industry.

-- BERNAMA