Australia’s northern city of Darwin wants to attract Chinese investors to develop aquaculture and seafood processing ventures.
Seeking to capitalize on the rapidly growing demand for seafood in China, business promoters in Darwin want to draw more Chinese money into the seafood sector after the local port was taken over on a 99-year lease to the Chinese Landbridge Group, which is headquartered in China’s key seafood region of Shandong.
“Darwin is open for business when it comes to opportunities for foreign seafood processors to engage in joint-venture arrangements with local Darwin businesses,” said Mark Riedel of Asia Wide Trading, a consultancy working with Landbridge. “We most certainly see Asian processors setting up shop to process locally-caught seafood for both sale locally or export from within a trade development and logistics zone adjacent to the port. We in particular see joint venture relationships with Australian companies.”
The Australian government and the state government of the North Australia are offering 100 percent concessional loans for the development of both joint-venture aquaculture and processing projects through the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF), Riedel said. He also touted Darwin’s direct flights to Shenzen as part of his pitch.
“In addition, there are a multitude of JV opportunities for the aquaculture farming of live barramundi utilizing tidal ponds located on the tidal flats of the vast Darwin harbor, within close proximity of the city of Darwin,” Riedel said. “We have plenty of fish but a small population and very little processing expertise or know-how. We have a government that is very, very keen to promote international investment – in particular with China.”
