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Government to focus on promoting mango exports: Razak Dawood

By Staff Reporter | Gwadar Pro Jul 3, 2021

By Pervaiz Mughal

ISLAMABAD, July 3(Gwadar Pro)—Abdul Razak Dawood, Advisor for Commerce and Investment said that besides traditional markets, Pakistani mangoes were now entering the Australian and Japanese markets, while assuring that the current government would focus on providing all possible facilitation and support to mango producers and exporters to tap more new markets for enhancing the exports of mangoes. He said that taxes and duties on raw materials for mango packaging and processing would be abolished.

He also confirmed that a special committee led by himself has been formed for the promotion of the mango sector, after inaugurated the Mango Festival organized by the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI), in collaboration with Centaurus at Centaurus Mall, Islamabad.

About 40 exhibitors from across Pakistan have put up their stalls in the Mango Festival to exhibit around 160 varieties of mangoes including 4-5 low-sugar varieties.

Speaking at the Mango Festival, Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry, said that for the first time, ICCI has organized a major mango festival in the Capital city, in which over 100 varieties of mangoes have been put on display to highlight their export potential for the local and foreign visitors, including foreign diplomats.

He said that Pakistan exported 125,000 tonnes of mango in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic. However, being an agricultural country, Pakistan has tremendous potential to further increase the production and exports of mangoes and emerge as one of its top exporters. He proposed that the government should set up a permanent Mango Expo Centre in the Capital to showcase their potential to the visiting foreign business delegations and visitors that would help in increasing their exports.

Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan also said that our farmers were still using old mango production techniques and stressed that the government should work through joint efforts to introduce the latest production techniques to increase their per hectare yield. He said that the USA and EU were the largest importers of mangoes in the world, the government should assist mango exporters in tapping these big markets. He said that the government should provide better facilities for sorting, grading, packing and value addition of mangoes to improve their exports. He said that the government should set up more Hot Water Treatment (HWT) plants in the country to increase exports of mangoes to high end markets. He was of the view that the government’s intervention in the whole value chain to enhance the competitiveness of mangos in the domestic and international market was important to realize the actual export potential of this king of fruits.

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