| Lyna Mohamad |
THE Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ali bin Haji Apong and visiting Singapore Minister of State, Ministry of Trade & Industry, Ministry of Development Dr Koh Poh Koon witnessed the signing of the contract agreement for the First Vertical Land-Based Aquaculture Farm in Kampong Tungku yesterday.
The agreement was inked between the Fisheries Department and KR Apollo Sdn Bhd with the Fisheries Department being represented by its director Haji Abdul Halidi bin Mohd Salleh and Acting Deputy Director Mariani binti Haji Sabtu as a witness.
Representing and signing as witnesses for KR Apollo were its Directors Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Kerma Raja Pengiran Haji Kamarulzaman bin Pengiran Pekerma Setia Diraja Sahibul Bandar Pengiran Haji Ali and Eric Ng.
Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ali, in a brief interview noted that the project involves the farming of fish and prawns in a multi-tier farm, which saves cost production with the minimal use of land and at the same time, have the ability to pull in more production.
The minister added that this will make KR Apollo competitive with countries abroad with low export costs, which is in line with the ministry’s strategic plan to increase production of the fisheries sector using high-technology. This will meet the ministry’s target of increasing production in this sector from the $100 million value in 2015 to over $600 million in 2020 without consuming much land and through high technology.
He further noted that it was an unexpected finding to know that Singapore is active in farming either in agriculture, fisheries or livestock, but due to the lack of land they need to use technology and methods in maximising whatever land they have in Singapore.
Also speaking to the Bulletin, Dr Koh Poh Koon noted that Singapore and Brunei have enjoyed deep and warm relations for many years and collaborated in many areas including defence and monetary. Investing in Brunei opens a new chapter for them to deepen collaboration further between both countries.
The Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ali bin Haji Apong and visiting Singapore Minister of State, Ministry of Trade & Industry, Ministry of Development Dr Koh Poh Koon witnessing the signing ceremony of the contract agreement for the First Vertical Land-Based Aquaculture Farm in Kampong Tungku. – DEAN KASSIM
“Part of the reason why we find synergy in our collaboration is because of constraints that we both face as small nations yet at the same time we share similar interests as well. So this is one good example on how two small countries can work together to further each other interests in a mutually beneficial way,” Dr Koh Poh Koon said.
“In Singapore we have land constraints. We are always looking for ways to diversify our food sources. Brunei is also looking to diversify its economy so I think it is in this aspect that we see both coming together to create a mutually beneficial collaboration,” added the minister.
He further pointed out that Apollo Aquarium Fish Farm has actually invested technology where they started as an ornamental fish farm but over the years have adopted and developed new technology and became innovative allowing them to take farming to a higher/new level with assurance of productions, which will be able to meet a growing market demand.
“I hope that we take this chance to encourage more Singapore farms and companies to invest in Brunei and to look for partners here to develop collaborative business opportunities together,” he said.
When asked on future collaborations, the minister pointed out that this collaboration is a good start and as the collaboration deepens, other opportunities can arise.
KR Apollo Sdn Bhd is a joint venture between a local partner, Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Kerma Raja Pengiran Haji Kamarulzaman and Apollo Aquaculture Group to operate the ?rst land-based vertical Aquaculture farm in Brunei Darussalam.
The products produced at KR Apollo will be mainly for export especially to Singapore with their first batch expected to be produced by the end of this year. This will no doubt contribute to an increase in the frequency of air logistics out of Brunei Darussalam.
One of KR Apollo’s aims is to focus on forming co-operation with local farmers and to utilise their technologies to increase their productivities with the hope to work on further research to develop the local species such as Blue Shrimp and Macrobrachium in the near future.
The company also hopes to further enhance Brunei Darussalam’s position in the global supply of processed seafood, which is aligned with Brunei Vision 2035.
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