UAE is key fish exporter to Saudi

The UAE has emerged as a major fish exporter to Saudi Arabia as the Gulf kingdom remains heavily reliant on sea food imports due to a rapid growth in consumption and lack of investment, a senior Saudi chamber official said on Sunday.

Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy and world’s dominant oil exporter, imported nearly 175,000 tonnes of fish worth around SR 1.38 billion (Dh1.35bn) in 2012 compared with 162,000 tonnes worth SR1.17 billion (Dh1.15bn) in 2011, said Mohammed Fahd Al Hammadi, chairman of the agriculture and food security committee at the Riyadh chamber of commerce and industry.

“There are many countries which export fish to Saudi Arabia, mainly the UAE and Oman…other countries include Singapore, Pakistan, India, Egypt, Norway, China, Malaysia, Sudan, the US and Argentina,” he told ‘Emirates24|7’ in an interview.

He said Saudi Arabia has remained heavily reliant on fish imports although it possess more than 500 km of coastlines and harbors, adding that the gap was a result of a shortage in investment in the farming and fishing sector in Saudi Arabia.

He estimated Saudi Arabia’s fish production at around 100,471 tonnes in 2012 and that domestic demand exceeded 200,000 tonnes. He said the gap between high consumption and local output is met through imports from the UAE and other countries.

Hammadi expected Saudi Arabia’s fish demand to soar to an all-time high of around 286,000 tonnes in 2025 because of a steady population growth.

“This the pressing need for pumping investment to develop the fishing sector in Saudi Arabia in order to meet rising demand,” he said.

“The agricultural development fund is giving large loans to farmers and I believe they should make use of such funds in fishing and other projects which do not require the consumption of large quantities of water…I think this will largely contribute to achieving food security in the Kingdom,” he added.