MANILA: The government should help local mango producers ramp up their production and go into value adding if it is keen on increasing their share in export receipts, according to the Philippine Mango Exporters Foundation Inc. (PMEFI).
PMEFI President Roberto C. Amores said local mango producers remain uncompetitive as they continue to grapple with high production and freight costs.
“We cannot compete with other [Asian] countries due to air freight cost and transit time. And if ever we can export [to Sweden], this will not be something significant,” Amores told the BusinessMirror.
He said if the government is keen on exporting to European countries, then it should focus on shipping value-added products rather than fresh mangoes.
The Philippines exports dried mango and mango purée products to Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Finland, Poland, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK. Europe accounted for 6.87 percent of the total dried mango exports of the Philippines last year. Local producers shipped 363.28 MT of dried mangoes, valued at $3.731 million, to European countries in 2016.
