Cabinet okays draft Nat\\\'l Shrimp Policy

The Cabinet has approved the draft of ‘National Shrimp Policy 2014’, aiming to boost shrimp production and thus raise export earnings since shrimp plays an important role in the country's economy. The approval came from the regular weekly meeting of the Cabinet held at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said the country's shrimp production will get a boost with the implementation of this policy, and there will be improvement in its qualitative standard, flourishing this industry, increasing employment opportunities and thus alleviating poverty and raising export earnings. Ultimately, he said, it will make a significant contribution towards meeting up the nutrition demand of the country’s people. He said the shrimp sector is very important in the country's economic context as about 15 million people, including women, are employed in it with shrimp export fetching Tk 33.76 billion in the last fiscal year, according to a news agency.