Islamabad
Chief Executive Officer of Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Company (PHDEC), Muhammad Ashraf said that mango exports during the current season have increased by 42% in 2019 compared to the last year.
“We had a record mango export season this year and more than 115,000 tonnes of mangoes have already been exported to 57 countries, he said this while addressing in a post-season seminar on mangoes held at Federation House.
The seminar was organized by the PHDEC in collaboration with All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA) to take stock of outgoing mango season and formulate strategy for the next season in consultation with the stakeholders, said a press release here on Monday. On the occasion, Muhammad Ashraf said that in this year session would be closing around 120,000 tonnes, an all-time record of Pakistan’s mango exports.
He said that in value terms mango exports till September 25 have exceeded 93 million tonnes as compared to 79 million tonnes during the corresponding period of the last season.
He appreciated the role of exporters in sustaining the exports in the existing markets and exploring new markets for Pakistani mangoes.
It was encouraging that the share of mango exports in premium-priced markets e.g. United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Belgium and Netherlands was steadily increasing, he said.
He said that moreover, Pakistani mango was diversifying its market coverage and was rapidly penetrating the Central Asian market, which constituted 16% of Pakistan’s mango exports with an export growth of 38% in 2019 as compared to the last year.
Patron-in-Chief of PFVA, speaking at the occasion, Waheed Ahmed said that Pakistan’s horticulture exports were on the upward trajectory and horticulture can join the billion dollar export club from the current levels of US$ 750 million in one year.
He highlighted the issues in the entire mango supply chain e.g. harvesting, post harvest handling, infrastructure deficit like absence of cold storage facilities at the airports and gaps in marketing. Since the mango consumer in the global market was becoming more and more quality conscious, “we need to work more on product development than export marketing.” he said.
He said the infrastructure at airports may be developed for adequate handling of produce.
While “we should work on the exports of fresh mangoes, there is the need to increase value additon.”he said.
On the marketing side, “we need to focus on mainstream importer rather than ethnic segment.”
Senior Vice President, FPCCI Mirza Ikhtiar Baig said that airfreight cost as the total cost of mango export was high, which needed to be rationalised.
Director Department of Plant Protection (DPP) Dr. Tariq Khan, emphasized the need of adopting the quality assurance measures so that international trade in horticulture did not become a pathway to spread of plant diseases across the borders.
“We need to adopt a system approach for pest risk management, since the SPS requirements of the countries were evolving and Pakistan should follow a dynamic response system to meet those requirements.” he said. More than 100 stakeholders representing the mango growers, processors, exporters, freight forwarders and airfreight carriers participated in the event.— APP
