HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, Aug 27: Luscious coffee plums, star fruits, jackfruits, lemons and pineapples – all from Assam are now on display in markets in Singapore. These fruits are now being directly exported to the Southeast Asian country.
This direct export has been possible because of a collaborative effort of Singapore’s ministry of trade and industry and India’s ministry of commerce and industry, with support from the Federation of Indian Export Organisation (FIEO), APEDA, and KADlien Innovations and Export Centre.
The trial exercise of directly exporting fresh fruits and vegetables from Assam to Singapore under the supervision of the country’s ministry of trade and industry was successful, officials said on Saturday.
“The cargo included coffee plum, star fruit, jackfruit, Assam lemon, and pineapple,” said exporter Achintya Kumar Das, who is also the founder of KADlien Innovations and Export Centre.
The 24-kilogram cargo was carried by Druk Air on August 23.
“Singaporean authorities have expressed satisfaction after visiting and witnessing the fruits at the importer’s site,” Das stated.
Singapore high commissioner to India Simon Wong also took to X (formerly Twitter) to congratulate the team behind the project.
“I am happy to announce the first air cargo shipment of fruits from Assam to Singapore. This will establish a direct agro-export source from the NE to Singapore. We thank CM Himanta Biswa Sarma for this pioneer initiative,” he said.
FIEO Assam head Kaushik Dutta said,” This will no doubt open up new markets for the exotic fruits and vegetables from Assam and North East at large. Also congratulations to @Drukair for starting the direct flight from Guwahati to Singapore.” (With inputs from PTI)
