OIA signs agreement with Tanzania for deep sea exploration, fishing
Oman Investment Authority (OIA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Tanzania for deep-sea exploration and fishing on Thursday.
This is in line with OIA’s efforts to expand in international markets, achieve diversity in targeted sectors, find opportunities to enter external markets to find new investment opportunities, and enhance its partnership with the countries it invests in, stated a press release.
Mohamed al Toqi, general manager of the East Africa department of OIA, and Mashimba Mdaki, Minister of Livestock and Fisheries, Tanzania, signed the MoU.
The MoU stipulates that Al
Wusta Fisheries Industries Company - a subsidiary of OIA’s Fisheries Development Oman (FDO) - will conduct a fish stock assessment in the Tanzanian maritime territory, in collaboration with Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute (TAFIRI).
This assessment covers coastal areas from the edge of the continental shelf (approximately 80m in depth) to the edge of Tanzania’s 320km Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), including the Pemba Channel and areas to the east of Zanzibar.
“This MoU aims to strike partnership and cooperation between OIA and the Tanzanian Deep Sea Authority to acquire fishing permits for Al Wusta Fisheries Industries Company to find pelagic fish and manage the Tanzanian tuna-fishing quota in the Indian Ocean,” Toqi said.
“This MoU is an opportunity to explore a promising fish stock that the company’s fishing vessel can target. Simultaneously, the company will be able to increase its production volume and market its products in Oman and the Middle East,” he further clarified.
As per request from TAFIRI and the Deep Sea Fishing Authority in Zanzibar, Al Wusta Fisheries Industries Company worked on the provision to sail one of its fishing vessels in the Tanzanian territorial waters starting from June for 12 months with a 25-tonnes daily fishing capacity. This estimation was made based on the same capacity in Oman at the beginning of the pelagic fishing project.