Kerala''s governor has inaugurated the 22nd India International Seafood Show (IISS), calling for efforts to attract foreign direct investment to increase employment opportunities and boost the country’s seafood exports.
Delivering his inaugural address at the three-day event, Shri Arif Mohammad Khan expressed confidence that India would be able to increase its share in global seafood trade from the present 4.1% to 6.7% by 2030.
'Blue evolution: Beyond Production to Value Addition' is the focal theme of the biennial event being jointly organised by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), the nodal agency of Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry, and the Seafood Export Association of India (SEAI).
Highlighting the importance of seafood, the governor pointed out that 40% of the global population live within 200 km from seacoasts and 12 of the 15 mega cities are on the coast. In India alone, about 40.5 million people are involved in the fisheries sector, which also contributes 1% to the gross domestic product.
Among others who addressed the inaugural function was MPEDA chairman Shri K.S. Srinivas who talked of a three-pronged strategy to promote the sector comprising an increase in productivity, expansion of the area under cultivation and diversification of species. Improvement in infrastructure, focus on value addition, brand promotion and increase in the number of trade promotion offices would go a long way in achieving the trade target, he said.
