Bengal to host India Int’l Seafood Show from Feb 15 to 17
KOLKATA: The 23rd edition of the India International Seafood Show (IISS) will be held in Kolkata from February 15 to February 17 to showcase the country’s tremendous strides in the seafood sector. The hosting of the event in Bengal assumes significance with seafood exports in the state growing six times in the last eight years to Rs 8000-9000 crore presently.
The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), in association with the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI), will be jointly hosting the event at the Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan which will provide an ideal platform for the interaction between Indian exporters and overseas importers of the country’s marine products. The event was last held in Kolkata way back in 2006.
As part of its plans to boost European exports, MPEDA has also decided to host an ‘International Buyer Seller Meet’ with particular emphasis on G20 countries during the IISS in Kolkata. A special technical session on G20 countries will also be organised parallel to the conclave. Seeking to make deeper inroads in the seafood market of Europe, MPEDA will hold a conference on the harmonisation of regulations for seafood among G-20 countries in July this year. MPEDA Chairman D V Swamy said: “A major objective of the conference is to make various stakeholders in India’s seafood industry aware of trade regulations and export prospects in the European countries, which are the third largest importer of our marine products.” Further, MPEDA will hold a shrimp conference to bring together stakeholders in the shrimp value chain from the G-20 countries this year.
A ‘Fish Food Festival’ is also in the pipeline in New Delhi, inviting ambassadors from the top 20 markets of marine products, including G20 countries in the current year.India has exported to 123 countries in 2021-22 with over a 31 per cent increase in financial terms in comparison to 2020-21. About 1369264 tonne of marine products were exported worth Rs 57586.48 crore in 2021-22 in comparison to 1149510 tonnes export worth Rs 43720.98 crore in 2020-21.
