Pakistan mango festival to be held in Shanghai in June

Pakistan Consulate General, Shanghai is planning to hold a big mango festival as part of activities to mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and China, Hussain Haider, consul general of Pakistan in Shanghai said on Wednesday.

“My greatest sense of achievement in China came from the mango festival organized in August last year. This year, we are planning to hold another mango festival on a bigger scale, which will be one of the activities to mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relationship of Pakistan and China,” he said in an interview.

“Last month, we held an online webinar with Trade Development Authority of Pakistan and Consulate General of Pakistan Shanghai, where six mango plantations in Pakistan introduced the main characteristics of their mangoes”, he said. Freesia Zhu, vice president of Hongqiao Import Commodities Exhibition and Trading Center(HQIICET) said that her company would be responsible for promotion activities of the Pakistan mango festival this year.

“More than 10 Chinese enterprises participated in the webinar and described the demand of the mango market in China and provided some advice on international trade”. “Mango ripens in June or July in Pakistan. 900 kilograms of mangoes will be sent to us. We are preparing many activities, including tasting events for consumers and cooperation on mango processing products such as dried mango and mango flavored milk tea,” Freesia said.

HQIICET also has many branches in different cities. They plan to bring Pakistan mangoes to Suzhou branch and Huangshan branch so that more Chinese consumers can taste Pakistan mangoes, China Economic Net (CEN) reported.

“It is convenient for Pakistan goods to enter China from Xinjiang port, but now Pakistan mangoes still have not been largely imported to China. One important reason is the behindhand preservation technology. The road transportation between Pakistan and China is too long while the cost of air transportation is too high.”

Freesia suggested that processed products of mango can be tried. “Dried mango and mango juice are popular in China, and these products have lower requirement of preservation. We suggest that processing plants can be set up in Xinjiang to reduce costs, and bring the taste of Pakistani mango to more Chinese consumers.”

“Pakistan mangoes are of very high quality and Chinese consumers have an emotional attachment to Pakistani products because of the Pak-China friendship. We also suggest that Pakistan strengthen its branding to make the products more acceptable to consumers,” Freesia added.

“The 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan is around the corner. We plan to hold Pakistan Week during the May 5 Shopping Festival, a yearly festival held in Shanghai from 1st of May to 30th of June”, Freesia said.

As a perennial exhibition and trading platform to undertake and amplify the spill-over effect of CIIE, HQIICET wants to help more Pakistan products which has participated in CIIE to enter the Chinese market more conveniently.

“We have discussed our plan with the Consulate General of Pakistan in Shanghai. There will be displays of Pakistani characteristic goods including jewelries, footballs and carpets, and some cultural activities will also be held then”, Freesia informed.