Islamabad:
Pakistani seafood exporters met with the Federal Minister of Maritime Affairs Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry in Beijing and updated it on discussions with their Chinese counterparts as Islamabad intensifies efforts to expand fishing exports.
The Federal Minister emphasized that signing Memorandaondos de Comprehension (MOU) and promoting company agreements to company would play a crucial role in improving fishing exports, strengthening the collaboration of aquaculture and elevating Pakistan as a key seafood center in the region. “Pakistan aims to reach $ 600 million in seafood exports in the next financial year,” he said.
Among the exporters, Tariq Memon, International Sales Manager of Arabian Sea Products, shared that his company was developing an advanced aquaculture and maintenance system to cultivate and preserve crabs and lobsters of living mud for export.
He said that the initiative, in association with Chinese companies, seeks to extend the survival time of living shellfish to two or three weeks, allowing access to distant markets such as China. Memon stressed that success would depend largely on the transfer of technology, investment and experience in the aquaculture of Chinese partners.
The Federal Minister said that the Pakistan Seafood Export Sector, including mud crabs and lobsters, was experiencing positive growth, contributing more than $ 465 million to total exports in the financial year 2024-25. “Pakistan has the third largest global exporter of mud crabs, sending more than 3,000 tons of live mud crabs to China, its largest importer,” he added.
Saeed Ahmed Fareed, CEO of Legend International (PVT) LTD, proposed a joint business with a Chinese company focused on seafood products and frozen poultry of added value added, such as chicken feet. Located in Karachi, the company operates an installation of 65,000 square feet with a processing capacity of 40 tons per day and has the approval of the General Administration of Customs of China.
Fareed explained that collaboration would help both parties reduce costs, reach economies of scale and expand the scope of export to US markets, Europe and regional. Ali Reimoo, Karim Impex partner, shared his company’s plans to expand to China and neighboring regions.
Meanwhile, Asif Muhammad Ali Shah, director of the perfect food industries, highlighted the unleashed potential for lyophilized food, a preservation technology initially developed by NASA for astronauts, but is now widely used in Asia.
Shah said that although countries like Thailand, Vietnam and China supply lyophilized fruits and vegetables, Pakistan lacks such facilities despite the strong international demand of products that include mango, Okra, bitter, false and guava melon.
He attributed the absence of lyophilization plants in Pakistan to high costs of equipment and long processing times, but said that international buyers were ready to commit to annual contracts if the local production capacity was established, particularly to serve the communities of the diaspora and food markets abroad abroad.
The Federal Minister observed that the Pakistan frozen food market was growing, backed by important investments in the cold chain infrastructure and advanced freezing technologies, which could lay the foundations for the future development of specific seafood lyophilization plants.
