‘Mango exports can grow by exploring new markets’

KARACHI: Pakistan can earn good foreign exchange if more growers and exporters move towards global certifications, processing units, and exploring new domestic markets of the West instead of mainly relying on Asian markets, said All Pakistan Agriculture and Horticulture Forum chairman Shaikh Imtiaz Hussain in a mango festival held in Karachi.

Total mango harvest in Pakistan was 1.8 million million tonnes (MTs) in 2021, while exports were meager 7 percent, earning nearly $100 million, he added.

“This year, the harvest is feared only 50 percent due to unexpected high temperatures in April and a shortage of water supplies,” he informed while speaking to ‘Mango Festival with Diplomats’ organised by Diplomatic Business Club (DBC) at Alliance Francaise, Karachi, in collaboration with All Pakistan Agriculture and Horticulture Forum, Pakistan Fruits and Vegetables Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association, and Roshan Enterprises.

Mango varieties such as Chaunsa, Langra, Sindhri, Laal Badshah, Sunehra, Anwar Ratol, Dussehri, Fajri, Neelum, Saroli, and Almas were featured in the festival.

Hussain urged mango exporters to explore new markets to increase mango exports and contribute to country’s foreign exchange.

During the festival, a live speech of Luca Trombella, a European logistics expert from the Netherlands, was also played on a screen about strategy of exporting Pakistani mangoes to Europe. Trombella encouraged Pakistani mango exporters to exploit the Netherlands as it serves as the hub of European markets similar to flowers.

In 2021, he said, the Netherlands imported about 213 thousand MTs of mangoes and exported almost a similar quantity. The re-export market of the Netherlands is Germany, France, Belgium, the UK and other EU countries. “The local supermarkets in the Netherlands demand Global GAP and SMETA/ SEDEX certification. Since South American countries fulfil this requirement and manage whole-year supplies, therefore, are the major suppliers to the Netherlands.”