SERIAN: Brunei Darussalam will be the next export market for Sarawak’s local Tilapia fish.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said the matter was still being discussed for a final deal.
“As you know, we are now exporting our Tilapia fish to Singapore, and our next export market will be to Brunei Darussalam, which is now still in a deep discussion for the final deal,” Uggah told reporters today after visiting Borneo Empurau Farm and Resorts in Tarat, here.
Accompanying him was Assistant Minister of Native Land Development Datuk Roland Sagah Wee Inn and Serian Resident Tuah Suni.
Uggah, who is also Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development, pointed out that the local Tilapia fish were also provided to Sugar Bun outlets.
In view of this, Uggah said it was of paramount importance that Sarawak’s local fish be acceptable and saleable for the overseas market.
“For us to compete with Vietnam, West Malaysia and Cambodia, we must come up with a species that is saleable and acceptable by overseas market,” Uggah stressed, adding that Borneo Eco-Fish had managed to sell Empurau fish from Batang Ai because of its freshness and clean smell.
Uggah asserted that fish rearing was one sector that the state government wanted to develop.
“The state has all the potential, but agropreneurs must understand that to be able to penetrate international market, the quality and price must be competitive and this is where research has to come in for a quality species, price and the feed,” Uggah stressed.
Uggah commended the initiative of Borneo Empurau Farm and Resorts under Datuk Yong Fook Heng, which is undertaking research for the rearing of tilapia, empurau and prawns, and also bringing in new technology.
He noted that research was a high risk sector because the outcome was unpredictable.
With this, Uggah said the state government was working on an incentive to help the research programme in Borneo Empurau Farm and Resorts.
“Research on the production of fry is one direction that we want to explore, so I hope more private sector come in for research sector,” he pointed out.
Borneo Empurau Farm and Resorts, which is also an eco-tourism destination is sited on a 50-acre land and scheduled to complete by the end of the year. —DayakDaily
