Pakistan Mango & Food Festival held in Ankara

Ankara : With the aim of further popularizing Pakistani mangoes in Turkey and facilitating their availability in the Turkish market, the Embassy of Pakistan organized a “Pakistan Mango & Food Festival” on Wednesday evening.  The event was also part of the celebrations of the 70^th Anniversary of Pakistan’s Independence as well as the 70^th Year of Pakistan-Turkey Diplomatic relations.

Key political figures, representatives from the food and beverages industry, fruit importers, diplomats and media representatives tasted the juiciness and aroma of Pakistani mangoes. The “Pakistan Mango & Food Festival” included a wide-range of mango delicacies such as mango ice cream, mango soufflé, mango mousse, mango trifle, mango tart, mango pudding, mango salad, mango milk-shake, mango lassi, and mango cake, made of freshly-arrived mangoes from Pakistan. Pakistani cuisine including ‘Biryani’ made of famous Pakistani Basmati rice was also served.

Welcoming the guests, Ambassador Sohail Mahmood stated that with a production of 1.8 million tons per year, Pakistan was the 5^th largest producer of mangoes in the world. He also highlighted that Pakistan was the 6^th largest exporter of mangoes, exporting it to 57 countries. However, most mango-lovers believed that the Pakistani mangoes were number 1 in the world in taste.

The Ambassador added that there were over 110 varieties of high quality Pakistani mangoes including Sindhri, Anwar Retaul, Lungra, Malda, Dusehri, Fajri, Chaunsa and others. “Chaunsa is the most popular variety – and we are serving the White Chaunsa today,” added the Ambassador. He hoped that the invited guests, who tasted Pakistani mangoes and mango-based products, would widely share their experience in quality and taste and help in promoting mangoes to consumers and importers in Turkey.

Turkish Deputy EU Minister Ali Şahin, in his remarks, urged everyone to visit Pakistan to taste the “King of Fruits – the mango” and to enjoy the “magnificent hospitality” of the people of Pakistan. Dilating upon the deep-rooted fraternal ties between the two countries, he termed Pakistan and Turkey as “Two States – One Nation.”

The Chairman of Pakistan-Turkey Cultural Association and Member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly from Van, Mr. Burhan Kayaturk, in his speech fondly recalled his stay in Lahore as a student and described Pakistan as “our best friend.” Calling Pakistani mangoes the world’s best fruit, he underlined the importance of more efforts by food companies to bring Pakistani mangoes to the Turkish market.

Ambassador Sohail Mahmood also thanked the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and Swissotel, Ankara for their collaboration in organizing the event.