October 10, 2006

US company to help Brunei break into US shrimp market
 

With the expert help from US-based Integrated Aquaculture International (IAI), Brunei, in an effort to diversify its economy, hopes to break into the lucrative US shrimp market and join in the fray against established players such as Thailand, Vietnam and India. 

However, instead of taking the big exporters head-on, IAI's technical director George W Chamberlain said his team aims to help Brunei create a niche market in the US.

The US company would also help local shrimp breeders rear virus-free shrimp that would pass muster at US customs and provide the latest breeding and hatchery techniques to local breeders, Deputy Minister Dato Paduka Hamdillah Abd Wahab said.

The South East Asian country is targeting big-name US seafood restaurants such as

Red Lobster as its customer and is working with IAI to snag the deal.

Brunei would also send a delegation to the Global Shrimp Outlook Expo in Miami, Florida, next month where producers would be able to talk to representatives from top buyers like WalMart and McDonald's.

According to Brunei's government's research, shrimp exports may be able to bring in as much as US$200 million from aquaculture and US$113 million from shrimp farming over the next 20 years.

Brunei now produces 400 tonnes of shrimp a year. The country must be fully prepared to compete with other bigger and more experienced seafood exporting countries, Dato Paduka Hamdillah said, adding that they would have to show that the country's shrimp breeders are professionals, not amateurs.