STAFF REPORT IBD: For first time, Pakistani Mandarin Festival has been held in Singapore, providing an opportunity to traders to find new markets for their horticulture produce.
The event was organized by the High Commission of Pakistan in Singapore in collaboration with major supermarket chains including NTUC Fairprice, Shen-xiong, Mustafa and Giant.
According to a press statement received here, the HC Syed Hasan Javed, while speaking at the launching ceremony, said that Pakistan is the `orchard of Asia, producing 33 kinds of fruits in commercial quantity.
He said that according to a study of Food and Agriculture Organization, (FAO), Pakistan was among the top 20 producers in the world in twenty horticultural products.
Pakistans nearly 14 million tons of fruit and 8 million tons vegetables can earn billions of dollars, if adequate marketing is done.
A dozen Pakistani fruits are undoubtedly among `the best in the world which include mangoes, oranges, dates, melons, cherries, peaches, apricots, grapes, pomegranates, persimmons, apples and water melons.
At the moment less than ten percent of fruits and vegetables output are exported which include world famous mangoes, oranges and dates.
Almost half of total production is consumed at home, while roughly forty percent is wasted due to inadequate handling and refrigeration facilities.