China delivers cage aquaculture training to Guyanese fisheries officials

An entity set up by China to deepen ties with Latin America is delivering an aquaculture training program in Guyana.

The China-Caribbean Development Center is coordinating the program, taking place online, which seeks to offer training in marine cage aquaculture to Guyanese fisheries officials.

The center’s director, Liu Ruiling, attending the launch of the program, along with officials from the Chinese province of Shandong and the city of Jinan. The 12-day training program will cover species selection, pen construction, disease control, and feeding among other topics.

Guyana has expressed an interest in doubling its aquaculture output by 2025, albeit from a low base. Guyana, which has preferential tariff access to both the European Union and U.S. markets, has become the center of several Chinese infrastructure projects. China has been keen to embrace economic and trade opportunities in the Caribbean and Latin American region. Chinese companies are active in construction and infrastructure deals in Guyana, including a Chinese state-owned oil company that has a stake in a Guyanese oil field that is expected to quadruple the local average per capita GDP by 2025 to USD 15,000 (EUR 14,250).

According to a statement from the Chinese embassy in Guyana, the training is the first in a series of bilateral training programs to be delivered by the China Caribbean Development Centre, a creation of the Beijing-orchestrated China-CELAC Forum, which brings together Chinese and Latin American officials for regular meetings.

Guyana’s domestic fisheries sector has struggled with profitability in recent years. However, a few Chinese companies operate profitably in the country. Grandeast Inc, a subsidiary of Fuzhou Hong Dong Pelagic Fishery, which operates in Guyana as Fuzhou Hongpu Aquatic Products, operates a USD 25 million (EUR 23.7 million) plant processing whitebelly shrimp (Nematopalaemon schmitti) for export to China. The firm has plans to expand the plant and has sought licenses for other seafood species.

Photo courtesy of China-CELAC Forum