Preparations underway to export tuna products to China on Maldivian's wide-body aircraft

Discussions have been held regarding the export of tuna products to China via Maldivian's wide-body aircraft.

Maldivian, Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO), Maldives State Shipping (MSS), and suppliers active in the fishing industry participated in these discussions held today at the Ministry of Fisheries and Ocean Resources.

The Fisheries Ministry stated that the purpose of this meeting was to increase export opportunities in the fisheries sector and to provide support to exporters. Accordingly, the Ministry noted that productive discussions were held with participants on facilitating space to export tuna products to China using Maldivian's wide-body aircraft.

With the free trade agreement between the Maldives and China coming into effect on January 1 of this year, fish products exported from the Maldives can enter China at zero tariff. Fish that can be imported to China at zero tariff include chilled or frozen skipjack tuna, canned tuna, smoked tuna, and salted fish. Therefore, if space is secured to export fish on Maldivian's wide-body aircraft, it will pave the way for fish suppliers and exporters to easily export fish products to China.

Maldivian's wide-body aircraft currently operates three scheduled flights a week to three cities in China. These are Beijing, Chengdu, and Shanghai.