Festival showcases mangoes from Pakistan in Dubai

The Consulate General of Pakistan, Pakistan Business Council Dubai and Pakistan Association Dubai have announced a two-day Pakistan Mango Festival in Dubai on 1-2 July.

The event will be held at Pakistan Association Dubai, according to a report in the Khaleej Times, and will showcase a wide variety of mangoes to traders and visitors from different countries.

The first day of the event, which has been dubbed ‘Connecting Hearts - The Mangolicious Way’, will be by invitation only, dedicated to trade visitors, senior diplomats and members of international business councils.

H.H Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, the UAE’s minister of culture, youth, and social development, is set to attend the grand opening along with the ambassador and consul general of Pakistan.

The second day will be open to the public free of charge, with interactive games for adults and children, culinary competitions, a mango art workshop, sports, shopping, a photo booth and cultural stalls displaying unique mango dishes from Pakistan’s five provinces.

“Pakistan Mango Festival 2022 is an endeavour to highlight and introduce Pakistani mangoes, their variants and superior quality to visiting dignitaries, ambassadors, consul generals and members of trade missions in UAE,” said Hassan Afzal Khan, consul general of Pakistan in Dubai. “We encourage and invite everyone to visit Pakistan Mango Festival, taste the sweetness and enjoy the Pakistani mango and festivities.”

“There are more than 100 varieties of mangoes that are cultivated in Pakistan,” said Mustafa Altaf, managing director of Dubai-based Altaf Hussain Trading Co and a senior member of the Pakistan Business Council. “During the Pakistan Mango Festival, around 18 companies will showcase a number of popular mango varieties which are exported globally, including Sindhri, Chaunsa, Sunehra, Anwar Ratol, Fajri, Dusehri, Gulab Khaas, Langra, Neelam, Laal Baadshaa and others. People can also purchase mangoes at a competitive rate.”

Pakistan is the fifth biggest mango producer in the world, after India, China, Thailand and Indonesia, cultivating around 1.8m tonnes a year.

In 2021, Pakistan exported 125,000 tonnes, but production is set to drop by 50 per cent this year due to the effects of heatwaves and climate change.

Nevertheless, Altaf said that Pakistani mangoes were seeing strong demand in Dubai this year, with exports on the rise.

“Imports of Pakistani mangoes to Dubai have been huge in the first 15 days of June because of their popularity,” he said. “In the first week, more than 6,000 tonnes of mangoes were imported from Pakistan to Dubai as compared to around 4,500-5,000 tonnes in previous years.”

Under the festival’s ‘Mangoes for a Cause’ concept, all the proceeds for the mangoes bought at the festival are set to go to Pakistan Medical Centre, a non-profit healthcare facility, the Khaleej Times reported.