Chinese businessmen show interest in investing in mango production

Hyderabad: Chinese investors have expressed interest in investing in mango varieties grown in Sindh during their visit to the Sindh Agriculture University (SAU).

A three-member Chinese delegation discussed with scientists at the varsity and farmers business opportunities in the mango-producing areas of the province. The participants agreed to promote a programme for value addition in the mango production to gain access to lucrative international markets.

The delegation was led by Jinglian Yao, Chinese consultant for business relations in international countries. It met SAU Vice Chancellor (VC) Dr Fateh Marri and others during the visit.

The VC informed the Chinese investors that experts of the SAU were working on value addition in mango production, mango processing and its by-products to ensure that those products were of the export quality.

He added that varsity’s graduates and experts were also transferring technology to rural women who were doing profitable business in their homes.

He said SAU experts had also researched on mango products and disease-free nurseries. The VC also highlighted the importance of agriculture in the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The Chinese investors said they had started visiting mango-producing areas in Sindh and southern Punjab and were looking for varieties of the fruit that could be available from May till September.

They said they were initially looking for the most suitable mango varieties for the production of mango pulp as they planned to purchase and process 6000 tons of mangoes in the first phase.

Dr Muhammad Ismail Kumbhar said Pakistan produced 1.8 million tons of mangoes annually, but only one per cent, which was 50,000 tons, was exported.

Dr Asia Akbar Panhwer and Dr Tahseen Fatima Miano, experts from the Institute of Food Sciences and Technologies, gave their briefings on the mango value chain and its by-products and the efforts of the SAU in this regard.

Dr Zulfiqar Yousafani, who represented a farmers organisation, said the visit of the Chinese delegation would provide opportunities to the mango farmers to take their products to markets of China.