The Pakistan government has agreed to explore the establishment of a Mango Development Council. This industry body will have representation from all stakeholders, including growers, traders, research institutes, etc.
The Ministry of Commerce hosted a consultative video-link session on the issues pertaining to exports of mango. The session was attended by Advisor to Prime Minister for Commerce and Investment. Both public and private sectors were represented.
The meeting discussed in detail all bottlenecks being faced by growers and exporters of mangoes. The main issues identified were meeting the compliance requirements, high freight charges, lack of cold storage facilities at the airports and insufficient water/vapour treatment facilities.
After extensive discussions, it was agreed that the TDAP will examine all the legal issues for operationalising the already-imported Vapour Heat Treatment Plant, presently lying at the Expo Centre Karachi. It was also agreed that the MOC will focus on exploring new markets and obtain tariff concessions for export of mangoes. Dawood advised the TDAP to double its efforts for marketing Pakistani mangoes abroad.
Source: nation.com.pk
Photo source: Nevinates | Dreamstime.com
