LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — This province hosted the biggest gathering of Philippine mango industry stakeholders at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center Gymnasium during the 12th National Mango Congress from February 24 to 26.

Governor Amado Espino, Jr., the guest of honor and speaker, expressed elation over the selection of Pangasinan as venue for this year’s congress, highlighting the province’s position as the top mango producer in the country.

Espino said Pangasinan contributes 40 percent of the national mango production and accounts for 84 percent of the regional mango production, boosting its position as the food basket of Region 1.

He said the Philippines is currently the sixth leading mango producer in the world and its carabao mango variety is considered the best. However, Espino said the country exports only six percent of its total mango production.

The governor said 90 percent of the very limited market share goes out as fresh mangoes, thus the big potential for the industry’s growth in exporting fresh and processed mangoes.

“Obviously, we need to work harder to establish a stronger foothold in the global export market, and to find aggressive but effective ways and means to capture a bigger slice of that potential foreign market,” he said.