Filipino-owned global firm Frabelle Fishing Corp. (FFC), the country's most integrated aquaculture and food company, is keen on establishing a tuna canning plant in India and expand its overseas operations in Vietnam and Papua New Guinea.
FFC President Francisco Tiu Laurel said India is a very probable site for canning operation because of its abundant tuna supply.
“It is quite interesting for me to note that India has a potential of 230,000 metric tons of tuna annually of which 40 percent is skipjack and the rest is big eye and yellowfin. That’s something worth looking into by way of putting up the facility or at least buy more materials to feed existing Filipino-owned factories around the western and central Pacific,” said Tiu.
FFC is into deep-sea fishing, aquaculture, canning, food manufacturing, processing, food importation and trading, cold storage, shipyard operations, wharf development, real estate development, and power generation.
The world-class fishing organization runs a fleet of over 100 vessels. It also employs 5,000 people, with markets including several countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South Africa, and the United States.
Since Filipino-owned companies already operate canning facilities overseas, Indian government and some private Indian companies to further expand their global presence by investing in their country. Filipino-owned tuna companies have canning plants in Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Another expansion option, Tiu said, under the India-Philippines cooperation is for Filipino companies to expand their fleet and fish around India’s fishing ground.
“We are willing to expand our tuna fleet where we are welcome to fish. That’s something quite encouraging to look at in India. Philippine companies will be willing to invest as long as they are allowed to fish,” said Tiu.
Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc (PCAFI) Danilo V. Fausto earlier said that the expansion of the country’s fishery sector arising from the trade cooperation between India and the Philippines will improve the lives of Filipino fishermen who depend on fishing for their livelihood.
Based on estimates, the fisheries sector provides employment to over 1.6 million people, 85 percent of whom are from the municipal fisheries, 1 percent from commercial fisheries, and 14 percent from the aquaculture sector.
The Philippine fishing industry also contributes around 2 percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 15 percent to the total Philippine agriculture output.
Currently, the Philippines exports a large chunk, at least 90 percent, of its tuna production, which largely goes to the European Union, United States, Middle East, Japan, and Australia.