Manado, North Sulawesi (ANTARA) - North Sulawesi Province (Sulut) exported nearly 20 tons of frozen fish to the United States (US) at the end of 2019.

"The demand for frozen fish from the US was very high at the end of the year, as the US public needed the commodity for the Christmas and New Year’s celebrations," Darwin Muksin, head of the North Sulawesi Industry and Trade Office's Foreign Trade Section, stated here on Thursday.

Frozen fish exported to the US totaled 18,427 tons and generated foreign exchange worth US$212,646 for the country, he remarked.

North Sulawesi’s fishery products were immensely popular in the United States, as the demand from the country continued to increase.

"Almost every week, North Sulawesi's fishery products are exported to the US to meet the demands of their people," he revealed.

Canned, fresh, and frozen fish are among North Sulawesi's major exports. Fishery exports constitute over 10 percent of the total value of North Sulawesi's exports to various countries over the past five years.

The province's major export destinations included Germany, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Britain, and Yemen, in addition of European nations, such as Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as Asian countries, such as Korea, Taiwan, and China. North Sulawesi also exported commodities to the Middle East and Africa.

"Almost all types of fish from the waters of North Sulawesi are very attractive to foreign countries since the characteristics of the fish are quite good, are of high quality, and have a good taste as compared to those from other regions," he remarked.

The provincial industry and trade office will continue to facilitate exporters from North Sulawesi in order to find new markets overseas, he added.

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