International NGO Solidaridad has drawn up a draft National Action Plan for Bangladesh’s shrimp sector along with the country’s fisheries department and industry stakeholders. Solidaridad, the Bangladesh Shrimp Fish Foundation and Bangladesh’s Department of Fisheries met with industry members on Feb. 15 to share the draft plan, which aims to encourage sustainable and inclusive sector growth. In 2016, Bangladesh exported 42,601 metric tons of shrimp worth $460 million, according to International Trade Center, based on importing countries’ customs data (most recent Bangladeshi data is from 2015). Areas of investment identified by the plan for the productivity of black tiger shrimp — which Bangladesh is a major producer of — include: * Upscale knowledge and skills throughout the supply chain; * improve embedded extension service and technology transfer; * access to quality inputs, financing and insurance; * improve quality, food safety and trace-ability in the shrimp supply chain; * and research and development for value added service and product development. “The objective of the workshop was to seek policy and technical level guidance and inputs that would enrich the draft NAP, and to recommend concrete ways for creating an enabling policy environment and investment in aquaculture infrastructure development to encourage greater private sector investment,” said a release. “The sector leaders urged to improve the production and market systems to meet the highest quality market standards through a systematic solution,” it said. Present at the meeting were Narayon Chandra Chanda, minister of Bangladesh’s Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, as well as Kazi Aminul Islam, executive chairman of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority.