Brunei firm signs deal to breed red groupers

Joint-venture aims to breed 2,000 tonnes of live fish yearly for export

BRUNEIAN company Myinvesco Hi-Q Biotech Sdn Bhd has set up a $3.4 million grouper breeding business, using technology from Taiwan to meet strong demand from China.

The company yesterday signed a joint-venture deal with Taiwanese firm Planet Hi-Q Marine Biotech to build Brunei's first indoor pond that grows red groupers to be marketed live to China.

The indoor fish farm, which will use a patented Ecological Recirculating Aquaculture System (Eras) technology, will have a yearly production capacity of 50 tonnes and will be built on a two-hectare site allocated by the Fisheries Department in Kg Serdang, Jln Kota Batu.

Myinvesco Hi-Q Biotech chairman Lt Col (R) Hj Said Hj Saidin, a retired army officer, said the project has high potential to produce sustainable financial returns, as opposed to using traditional open air aquaculture systems which are subject to weather, sea current and other external factors that make it difficult to manage and may be costly to operate in the long run.

The buy-back guarantee also eliminates the burden of marketing the products, particularly when it comes to unfamiliar territory such as China, he added.

It takes at least 11 to 12 months before "marketable-sized" groupers (weight range of 500 grammes to one kilogramme) can be harvested.

A buy-back agreement and a purchase agreement was signed by both parties during yesterday's ceremony, while another agreement was signed by Myinvesco Hi-Q Biotech for the appointment of Arkitek Ibrahim as project manager.

Under the buy-back agreement, Planet Hi-Q Marine Biotech will purchase the groupers at US$32 ($48) per kilogramme (ex-farm).

Planet Hi-Q Marine Biotech, a subsidiary of Hi-Q Biotech International, holds the master licence for the Eras technology in Brunei, and under the agreement Myinvesco Hi-Q Biotech will become a sub-licencee that entitles it to use the technology to grow out live red groupers in indoor ponds.

The project will have the opportunity to grow into a wider scale with the completion of the 40-hectare Eco Aquaculture Park in Sg Paku expected some time early next year, according to Hj Said.

"We believe this will be successful," said Planet Hi-Q Marine Biotech chairman and CEO Johnson Chang, citing China's requirement of 12,000 tonnes of red groupers by 2010, a figure that he expects to grow from year-to-year.

"The demand for red grouper is increasing in mainland China despite the economic downturn. It has been a popular type of fish amongst the Chinese for so many centuries, and is typically served during special occasions like weddings and business functions," he said.

Despite the relatively high capital needed to build the infrastructure and acquire the technology, the farm's operating costs will be cheaper in the long run because of its high production capacity, said Johnson.

With offices in Taiwan, mainland China and Malaysia, Hi-Q Biotech International is well positioned to distribute the groupers through its established marketing network either by sea or air, he added.

Planet Hi-Q Marine Biotech also announced its strategic plan to expand the use of the Eras technology on a wider scale in the Sultanate, aiming to produce 2,000 tonnes of live red groupers annually in the next five years. It is currently searching for more prospective parties to become sub-licencee(s).

With yesterday's signing, Brunei will be the first country in the world to rear red groupers, locally known as kerapu merah, using the Eras technology after Malaysia was announced to be the first in the world in 2007 to grow out tiger groupers using the same system.The Brunei Times