Experts on Wednesday discussed urgent reforms needed to restore competitiveness in one of Bangladesh’s shrimp sector.
The Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI), in collaboration with the Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association (BFFEA), hosted a Policy Dialogue titled “Transforming Policy Support for Reviving Bangladesh’s Shrimp Sector” at the InterContinental Dhaka on December 3, 2025.
Bazlul Haque Khondker, research director at PRI, presented the keynote paper, highlighting that Bangladesh’s shrimp industry continues to fall behind India, Vietnam, and Indonesia in productivity, value addition, and access to sector-specific incentives.
While peer countries offer low-interest loans, insurance, bonded warehouses, and various subsidies, Bangladesh’s support system remains limited, with high duties on broodstock and restricted financing posing major constraints.
To revive the sector, Khondker recommended several short-term policy measures, including: bringing shrimp exporters under the Export Facilitation Pre-Finance Fund (EFPF); classifying shrimp under the agro-sector with loan rescheduling facilities; removing the 25% duty on SPF broodstock; providing government excavation support to improve farming systems; streamlining raw material imports; and allowing hatcheries a two-year transition period to fully adopt SPF fry.
His long-term proposals included establishing a Tk2,500 crore Shrimp Aquaculture Fund to provide easy-term loans, and a Tk500 crore Frozen Foods Exporters Facilitation Fund to support product diversification and energy-efficient technology upgrades.
Additional priorities include declaring shrimp a priority crop in key coastal districts, setting up third-party quality-testing laboratories, introducing NSDA-supported training for farmers and technicians, and using newly silted land for aquaculture expansion.
He noted, however, that achieving the $1.45 billion export target by 2030—requiring annual growth of at least 22%—would be “highly ambitious.”
Farida Akhter, Adviser to the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock and chief guest of the event, emphasized the need to reduce discrimination in subsidy and incentive policies for the shrimp sector.
She announced that a 20% electricity bill rebate for the sector would be implemented soon and expressed optimism about establishing a specialized Fisheries and Livestock Bank.
Ahsan H Mansur, governor of Bangladesh Bank, remarked that the shrimp sector requires “major reorganization and stronger monitoring,” calling for more proactive government action on disease management, varietal improvement, and governance.
The program opened with a sector overview video, followed by remarks from Mohammad Shahjahan Choudhury, president of BFFEA, who expressed hopes of tripling exports by 2030.
Iqbal Ahmed OBE, chairman & managing director, Seamark (BD) Ltd., delivered a summary of the discussions.
The event also featured remarks from Md Enam Chowdhury, president, Bangladesh Marine Fisheries Association, and Md Abdur Rouf, director general, Department of Fisheries.
