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Published on October 27, 2007

The bank will also provide financial assistance to those interested in exporting seafood products from their aquaculture ventures.

Rabobank yesterday revealed its research on the seafood outlook in Asia, showing that natural resources for sea-water production had continued to decrease since 2000 after enjoying good growth from 1990 to 2000. Overfishing, increasing catches of trash fish and degradation of the marine environment are three major factors.

Salt-water production last year grew only 2.1 per cent. Meanwhile, Rabobank sees an increase in aquaculture, because more entrepreneurs are showing an interest in growing freshwater animals.

Aquaculture now accounts for up to 43 per cent of seafood production. Last year, freshwater production grew 5.2 per cent.

He said aquaculture was actually one important solution for saving natural resources and marine creatures in the long run amid a rising demand for seafood worldwide, particularly in the US, Japan and Europe. In addition, consumers globally are concerned more about food safety, and aquaculture products can be identified precisely from the place of origin all the way to final production.

Among seafood markets, East and Southeast Asia is the world's main export area, accounting for about 55 per cent of global seafood production. Major producers are China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. The region accounts for 42 million tonnes (45 per cent) of the global wild catch, 43 million tonnes (90 per cent) of global aquaculture and 6 million tonnes (60 per cent) of the world's freshwater catch.

Thailand has 3,219 kilometres of coastline. Seafood production last year amounted to nearly 4 million tonnes. It is one of the largest seafood producers in the world, leading the global market trade in shrimp and canned tuna.

In helping Thai entrepreneurs establish aquaculture operations in Thailand, Rabobank said it mainly gave advice and information from its consistent research but would not provide loans. Goh Chong Theng, Rabobank's general manager for Singapore, said local banks would be best for providing financial assistance, because they were already strong in the market.

Rabobank had a representative office in Bangkok for 10 years but closed it last

year. Nevertheless, it maintains representatives in Thailand who collect information for research and at the same time give advice. Goh said Thai entrepreneurs could also reach its regional office in Singapore for both information and financial assistance if they wanted to export or establish a business offshore.

Thomas Lee Bauer, Rabobank's head of food, agribusiness research and advisory services for Southeast Asia, said freshwater products with high potential included tilapia, pangasius and shrimp.

Bauer said China, Malaysia and Vietnam were currently major competitors of Thailand in aquaculture, although Thailand had already gained a strong reputation in terms of brands and trustworthiness. He suggested entrepreneurs make themselves a niche and ensure their products gain international-standard certification.

Rabobank was established in 1898 as an agricultural cooperative bank and is now expanding and transforming itself into a major financial group in the Netherlands. It has representative offices in 41 countries.

 Nitida Asawanipont

 The Nation