A shipment of 5 tonnes of Taiwan tilapia was sent from Tainan to Singapore on Wednesday, following an order valued at NT$600,000 placed with a company in the city.
The products, including frozen whole fish and precooked fish belly, were dispatched from Jiangjun Fishing Harbor (將軍漁港), where a new aquatic processing and logistics center is under construction.
Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) called the move a “breakthrough,” marking Taiwan’s expansion into the Singaporean tilapia market.
Photo: Wang Han-ping, Taipei Times
Taiwan’s tilapia exports have traditionally focused on the US, Canada and the Middle East, Huang said, adding that the new foothold in Singapore boosts confidence in Taiwan’s export potential, particularly with uncertainty surrounding US tariffs.
According to Tainan agricultural officials, the city produces about 25,000 tonnes of tilapia annually.
The Jiangjun processing and logistics center is set to be a key hub for product processing and price stabilization, Huang said.
Phase one was partially completed last year, and phase two is scheduled to finish by next month, with full operations starting at the end of October, officials said, adding that the facility would process more than 1,000 tonnes of products annually once completed.
Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) on Tuesday announced that Taiwan is preparing to open its market to fresh blueberries from Poland, as he hosted a visiting group of Polish lawmakers.
The government has given the green light for the imports, which are pending final administrative procedures, Lin said at a lunch banquet with the delegation from the Polish-Taiwanese Parliamentary Group.
The Ministry of Agriculture has promulgated quarantine regulations for fresh Polish blueberries, initiating a 60-day public comment period, with local media reporting that the market opening could take effect in September.
Lin at the banquet thanked Lukasz Horbatowski, Marek Chmielewski, and Iwona Krawczyk for their support for Taiwan, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Meanwhile, Lin expressed hope for deeper cooperation in artificial intelligence, drones and advanced chips — building on ties in economics, higher education, the judiciary and technology — to help create a resilient, democracy-based, non-China supply chain, the foreign ministry said.
As a major exporter of agricultural products, Poland welcomes Taiwan’s decision to open its market to Polish blueberries, Horbatowski said, adding that he hopes for continued cooperation between Taiwan and Poland in the agriculture and high-tech sectors.
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