Indian companies are looking at collaborating with Philippine firms in tuna, shrimp and seaweed processing.
At the India-Philippines Marine Fisheries and Aquaculture virtual business conference last week, Cherian Kurian, managing director of India’s M/s HIC ABF Special Foods, said the Philippines is a global leader in tuna processing and canning and the fish is currently the country’s largest seafood export with a yearly value of $350 to $400 million.
Francisco Buencamino, executive director of the Tuna Canners Association of the Philippines, said it will be more advantageous to import India’s raw tuna and processed here to be able to tap preferential duty privileges to the European Union.
India is also looking at sharing technology and research and development on shrimp production. India is the world’s largest shrimp producer and exporter, particularly the vannamei species. It exports 90 percent of its shrimps with almost 50 percent going to the United States.
Indian stakeholders said there is a huge demand for seaweed hydrocolloids in India but 50 to 90 percent of supply is met through imports.
The Philippines is a global leader in carrageenan and seaweeds and has put up its processing facilities way earlier than other countries with exports totals to around $200 to $250 million yearly.
Alfredro Pedrosa III of the Seaweed Industry Association of the Philippines, said the Philippines has 140,000 hectares of potential seaweed farms for expansion.
“These are the resources that sustain our industry. We have available farm areas of 200,000 hectares along coastlines. Only 60,000 hectares are farmed, we have 500,000 hectares of deep-sea available farmable area,” Pedrosa said.
