This country will soon sign an agreement with ‘Rainforest Seafood’ which will see the establishment of a conch, lobster and fish packaging plant here.

The agreement was to be signed last Saturday, but the ceremony was postponed to a date to be announced.

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves says Rainforest Seafood will focus on export but will also sell to hotels and other local entities. He said Rainforest intends to construct a state of the art processing facility valued at US$3.5 million and it is anticipated that annual exports of seafood will amount to US$7.5 million.

The Prime Minister also disclosed that Bequia Seafoods, an entity that exports seafood from this country to Miami, will soon hold discussions with the Agricultural Input Warehouse (AIW) with the intention of taking over the Kingstown Fish Market.

The Kingstown Fish Market is managed by the AIW.

Gonsalves said it is the intention of this government to source three fishing trawlers within the price range of US$200,000 each. He said once sourced, the trawlers will be inspected and the government hopes to get technical assistance from countries with expertise in fishing like Taiwan.