Blue Revolution: MPEDA’s 3-day International Seafood Show from Friday

KOCHI:
India’s continued buoyancy in sustainable seafood exports in the face of stiff global competition will be on full display at the 22nd India International Seafood Show (IISS) in Kochi from February 7-9. Also showcasing the latest technological interventions in aquaculture sector, the event will witness industry leaders and experts deliberating on policies and actionable roadmaps to achieve the country’s marine products export target of US$10 billion by 2022.

‘Blue Revolution: Beyond Production to Value Addition’ is the focal theme of the three-day marine industry’s biennial event being jointly organised by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), the nodal agency of the Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry, and the Seafood Export Association of India (SEAI).

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan will inaugurate the show on Friday at 11 am at Lulu Bolgatty International Convention Centre, Hotel Grand Hyatt. Minister of State Commerce and Industry Shri Som Parkash will present the awards a day later. Billed as one of Asia’s largest seafood fairs, the IISS is being held in Kochi after a gap of 12 years.

MPEDA Chairman K S Srinivas said today that IISS 2020 offers a platform for all stakeholders to deliberate on various aspects of the seafood industry for striking business deals. It also provides tremendous scope for tapping new avenues and introducing various technologies and products to the global market.

“A major objective of the event is to highlight the country’s commitment towards sustainability in the entire value chain of seafood products such as primary production, processing and transportation. It also offers a platform for all stakeholders to discuss new techniques in processing and traceability and value addition to products for export,” he told a press conference here.

IISS2020 will have 1,500 delegates, with 50 of them from 12 foreign countries. Entry will be open to the public on Sunday, February 9 with a fee of Rs 100.

SEAI National President Jagdish V Fofandi said India’s seafood industry is poised for stronger focus on value addition of the products.

During 2018-19, India exported over 14,37,000 tonnes of marine products worth over US$ 6.70 billion as per provisional figures. With a multi-pronged strategy, addressing capture fisheries and aquaculture, it is expected to achieve an export turnover of $ 15 billion in the next five years, Fofandi revealed.

Besides value addition, sustainable fishing methods, stricter quality control and increased aquaculture production through diversification are expected to support the ambitious target set for exports, according to the 1972-founded MPEDA, headquartered in Kochi.

The trade exposition provides an umbrella for the sector’s various stakeholders such as producers, processors, importers and exporters, processing machinery manufacturers, cold storage solution providers, linkage sectors and technical experts, besides policymakers from the state and Central Government fishery institutions, to assemble under the same roof, build up trade relations and suggest measures to boost seafood exports from the country.

IISS 2020 will close to 350 stalls spread over 7,000 sq m, showcasing a wide range of products based on automated and IT-aided pre-processing, processing and storage technologies for value addition. In addition, it provides an opening for service providers like the logistics and certifying/testing segments.

The others who spoke at the press conference were MPEDA Vice-Chairman Rajarshi Banerj, MPEDA Secretary B Sreekumar, MPEDA Director (Marketing) T Dola Sankar, SEAI Secretary-General Elias Sait and SEAI Regional President Alex K Ninan.

Internationally acclaimed experts from France, Singapore, the UK, USA, Japan, the Netherlands, Germany and Fiji besides India will address technical sessions on topics of current interest such as ‘Prospective Markets & Regulatory Environment’, ‘Certification, Traceability & Value Addition’, and ‘Tuna export value chain – Better harvest practices’. In addition, business presentations will be made by DANFOSS Industries (P) Ltd and TCS.

India is the second largest aquaculture producer in the world, largest exporter of shrimp to USA. India is also exporting significant volume of shrimp to Europe and other markets in South East Asia.