Pakistan has been working for a long time to tap into the American market with its high quality mangoes. The conditions and requirements set for Pakistani mango exports to the United States have made it a costly matter, said Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) member and Harvest Trading Chief Executive Officer Ahmad Jawad.
In a statement issued on Saturday, he said that till date mango importers in the US are concerned about the financial feasibility of selling Pakistani mangoes as due to high prices they may not be able to clinch much of a market except for the niche die-hard Pakistani mango fans. He said that the shipping and handling costs amounts to $22 for a two kilogramme carton unless they are given more options for shipping and irradiation destinations to bring down costs and facilitate importers to the US.
“I think we may remove this market from our minds. The US mango lovers who are waiting for Pakistani mangoes for the last many years will face disappointment this year too”. “I don’t know why United States Agency for International Development (USAID) focuses entirely on Europe and the Middle East and not America to help mango growers in arranging shipments?”, he asked.
On the other hand, a New York congressman Tom Reed has questioned the decision of the Obama administration to spend $30 million on mango farmers of Pakistan to help them export the king of fruits to the US terming it “egregious” and “wasteful” government spending; as reported by The Indian Express.
Published In The Express Tribune, June 17th, 2012.
COMMENTS (3)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
Send to Arabia Dubai Iran Afghanistan Russia Africa China
explore other markets, why rely on America for everything. Export to South Korea, South America, Africa. We can get more revenue from there, than America.
Sad to see that the US is not facilitating the export of Pakistani Mangoes to US. Last year we heard Madam Hillary Clinton talking about how the US was going to help the Pakistanis export the Mangoes to US. May be, just like every thing else, the US added some conditions: you help us (US) find more Talibans, and we will let your Mangoes come in to the US.