The nascent seafood industry in the Arab World has good prospects of growth and expansion as public awareness on the health benefits of sea food consumptions, said a seafood representatives from the region. “The seafood industry in the Gulf is developing and it is mostly because of change in diet. There is a focus on the Middle East on healthier eating and seafood provides a healthy balanced diet,” Kuwait News Agency quoted Laurence Coo, director of communications of the privately-owned Saudi National Prawn Company (NPC) as saying at the three-day Brussels Seafood Fair that ended on Thursday. The fair has attracted buyers and sellers from over 140 countries around the world with over 1600 exhibitors. Situated on the Red Sea coast south of Jeddah, NPC is said to be the largest fully integrated desert prawn farms in the world. The company has 12 farms and each farm has 10 ponds which produces 15,000 tons of white prawn sold in the Kingdom and exported around the world. “We believe certainly there is a future of seafood industry in the Gulf. There is obviously interest in places like Yemen and Oman anyway with farming operations. I believe that there is potential in desert areas. We are looking at opportunities and new projects,” said Cooke”. Ahmad R. Al-Balla, managing director of NPC, said “we cover the local market and the GCC and about 70 percent of our products is exported to Asia and Europe.” He said that NPC which employs 3000 people is completely self sufficient in every facet from power and water through to pond, plant and infrastructure. “We now have locally-produced high standard products which are readily available in fresh format. We are seeing that there is a growing interest in our products in the region,” Al-Balla pointed out. “We are launching products in the regional markets visible to the people and natural health food concerns everybody. In GCC countries people have the money and naturally they will select the good food once it is available,” he added. The Saudi seafood entrepreneur said they have been participating in the Brussels seafood fair for the last six, seven years and “Inshallah will continue to come.”
