Setting up Inland Sea Farm, Pakistan: Mauritius Investor Shows Keenness

He said government of Pakistan would finance 50 percent of the project while rest of the investment would be made by the Mauritius investor. Replying to a question, Aga said that ISF would hatch all sea species except fish and added that the Mauritius investor had also assured Pakistani authority to provide assistance in maintaining standards required for seafood exports to European Union (EU) countries.

Moreover, he said two Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) were expected to be signed shortly for skills exchange and continuous co-operation between the two countries. Aga said the government of Pakistan was striving to establish trade relations with Mauritius and for the first time, 13 tons of Pakistani mangoes (Sindhri) had hit Mauritius markets in the last summer. He said Pakistani exporters had good scope in Mauritius especially for readymade garments, restaurants, rice, cement, etc and added that they were working hard to establish Mauritius as gateway for Pakistani exports to African countries. He further said that government of Pakistan had finally convinced Mauritius authority to import Halal meat from Pakistan, adding that Mauritius was considered to be potential market for Pakistani mutton.

Meanwhile, Shehzad Abdullah, governing member of Mauritius Chamber of Commerce said that a 27-member delegation was participating in Expo Pakistan 2013. He said that high air freight had caused to decline imports from Pakistan to $30 million, which was earlier stood at $47 million. He also urged the Pakistani authority to make efforts to rationalise air freight or introduce speedy sea-route to explore Mauritius and other African markets.