By Nor Faridah Abdul Rashid, NNN-Bernama
Dubai : Although Dubai is largely renowned for its booming construction sector, the Malaysian Department of Fisheries (DOF) feels that it is also a strategic location to serve the Middle East seafood market.
The Director of the DOF Planning, Development and International Division, Mohamed Shaupi Derahman, says Dubai offers a good potential for Malaysia to tap such a market in the region.
“Dubai is considered the gateway to the Middle East seafood market,” he told Bernama here Wednesday.
The department made its debut at the Dubai International Seafood (DISF) 2007 exposition here recently, bringing together six companies under the Malaysian pavillion.
“This is the first time we came for this type of exhibition which focuses on the fisheries sector only,” he said.
Mohamad Shaupi said that the Middle East was a target market for seafood and the exhibition provided an opportunity for Malaysia to promote its products like fishballs and crabmeat apart from black tiger prawns and red tilapia.
“We are also trying to promote our halal products as Malaysia is the hub for halal food products,” he added.
Mohamed Shaupi said that during the three-day exhibition, the companies that took part received many inquiries from traders and buyers from countries like Oman, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Morocco and even India.
Mohamed Shaupi said the exhibition also provided an opportunity for Malaysia to find out the Arabs’ preferences where seafood was concerned.
And to ensure that the Malaysian seafood products would be competitive, a market survey of hypermarkets was carried out to compare prices and the types of packaging required.
Mohamed Shaupi said the DOF planned to take part in the exhibition again next year.
The exhibition attracted 75 leading companies from 22 countries, which took part to take advantage of the rising seafood markets in the Middle East, cuased primarily by the region’s growing population and the influx of tourists.