The Minister of Agriculture, Angel Estevez, led a meeting with mango producers from different parts of the country in which he announced the opening of the Expo Mango 2015 fair. Last year, this tropical fruit contributed more than $17 million dollars to the Dominican Republic's economy.
The fair will be held from June 11 to June 14 in the city of Bani, in the province of Peravia, and its aimed at promoting and encouraging the production, processing, marketing and consumption of Dominican mango in the domestic and international markets.
The minister said the quality of the Dominican mango had allowed it to become a country brand in international markets, and highlighted the potential of the Dominican Republic to increase its production by more than one thousand percent in the coming years.
He said the country currently exported 2.5 million boxes of mangoes, and that the producers, together with the authorities had the capacity of increasing that number to 25 million boxes, because of the favourable weather conditions and geographical location of the country.
"The north and the south have all the conditions to produce mango as a whole," said Estevez, referring to the areas that could be incorporated into the production of the fruit.
Besides being a business forum aimed at promoting exchanges between the different sectors involved in the production, marketing and processing of mango, Expo Mango 2015 intends to promote ecotourism attraction in Bani, which is called the mango capital.
At the meeting, the Minister of Agriculture Minister was accompanied by Leandro Mercedes, Deputy of Extension, and Laura Naut, Director of International Cooperation, among other officials.
The meeting was also attended by Rafael Perez Duverge, director of the Dominican Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Research (Idiaf); Rafael Leger, president of Mango Cluster (PROMANGO), German Baez, president of Expo Mango 2015, and mango producers from different areas.
Leger said this fair would give the country the opportunity to learn about new technologies and the progress achieved in the production of mango, which would lead them to a new stage of industrialization.
Meanwhile, German Baez welcomed the support of the authorities to organize the event and to make it successful, and urged people, especially from the southern community, to participate and learn about the natural attractions of the area.
Expo Mango 2015 will be open until Sunday June 14 in front of the plaza of the City of Bani, with a program of activities that includes the display of mango varieties, business tables, sales of mangos and plants, as well as arts and education.
Source: eljaya.com