Fisheries labs get under way
The fisheries sector is one of the key five prioritised sectors in the Sultanate’s current 5-year plan
MUSCAT: As part of the Sultanate’s economic diversification plan, the fisheries sector labs, organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in collaboration with the Implementation and Follow up Unit, has kicked off.
The opening ceremony of the labs which will run until October 26th 2017 was sponsored by Dr. Ali bin Masud Al Sunaidi, Minister of Commerce and Industry.
While addressing the gather- ing, the Minister of Commerce and Industry said: “The fisheries sector is one of the key five prioritised sectors in the current five-year plan. The labs are continuation of the similar labs for the industry and tourism sector. He pointed out that fisheries lab will be followed by another lab on mineral wealth.
The fisheries labs are part of an ambitious plan that is based on a strategy approved by the government. This strategy takes into consideration the stages of fishing, aquaculture, fish processing and international marketing. The labs will highlight the fish quantities that can be benefited from, the locations for aquaculture and the trends of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries with relation to developing the capacity of the existing ports, he added in a statement to reporters.
“The Supreme Council for Planning has recently approved private investment in Diba Port. There are also two ports under consideration. With these three ports, the Sultanate will have an integrated system comprising 24 ports,” he further said.
On his part, Dr. Hamad bin Said Al Oufi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries for Fisheries delivered a speech where he launched the fisheries lab.
He pointed out that the Ministry has developed a roadmap for the development of fisheries sector and ensure its sustainability up to 2040. To this end, a number of policies, plans, programmes and measures have been proposed to develop performance and benefit from the available resources in enhancing the food security system and contribute to economic diversification in the Sultanate. The strategy has been developed in coordination between the national team and the World Bank.