The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has trained seafoods dealers and farmers on the strategies of exploiting the investment opportunities in packaging, processing and production of seafoods for export.
Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Council, Segun Awolowo, who spoke at the training in Yenegoa on Friday, said the $1 billion estimated investment in seafoods industry in 2019 was still largely unexploited, noting that if the people concentrate on seafoods production and export, it could create hundreds of jobs and feed thousand of citizens.
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The workshop which aimed at enhancing the production, processing, packaging and quality of seafoods for export, has as its theme, “Enhancing the Production and Quality of Seafood for Export.”
He said the training was ideal at the moment that government was paying more attention to the diversification from the existing monolithic crude oil economy through non-oil exports.
Represented by the Regional Coordinator of NEPC in South -South, Joe Itah, Awolowo explained that the workshop was primarily aimed at building the capacity of businessmen in seafoods subsector with a view to enhancing their contributions to the non-oil export earnings of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP).
Bayelsa State Commissioner for Agriculture, David Alagoa, said the government has already prioritized agriculture as its main channel of creating wealth and prosperity as well as avert food shortage in the future and boost the economy of the state.
He described the workshop as a fantastic idea, adding that seafood farmers most often get shortchanged for not adding value to their products before selling them.
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