Mango Lovers In Turkish Capital Enjoy Mango-Made Dishes, Sweets During Mango Weekend

Mango lovers enjoyed mango made-dishes and sweets Friday at the Bangladesh Mango Festival in the Turkish capital of Ankara.

Mango Weekend, organized by the Bangladeshi Embassy, offered mango-made delicacies to guests at the Ankara HiltonSA Hotel.

"The king among fruit is thriving very well in Bangladesh, thanks to the modern methods of horticulture that are used to nurture mango trees," said Ambassador Mosud Mannan.

He said Bangladesh is the seventh-largest producer of mango and mango exports in the South Asian nation reached a record in 2021.

"Between July 2021 and May 2022, exporters air-shipped 980 tons of mango" from Bangladesh, he said.

Mannan said mango is grown in various regions in Bangladesh. "There are over 270 varieties of sweet edible mangoes in the Rajshahi region alone."

Noting that mango is one of the most consumed fruits in the world, he said each type of mango "has its distinctive flavor and arguments about the superiority of one over the other can get very serious."

Sharing health facts on the mango, which is used in making meals and desserts, he said: "Its phytochemicals may actually suppress fat cells and fat-related genes," referring to recent studies.

"Each cup of sliced mango (165 grams) contains approximately 107 calories, 3 grams of fiber, 24 grams of sugar, 1 gram of protein, 25% of the daily value of vitamin A, 76% of the daily value of vitamin C, 257 mg of potassium and 0.2 mg of vitamin B-6," he said.

Touching on Turkish-Bengali ties, Mannan said both countries conduct active friendly exchanges in culture, education and the economy.

"The trade volume has increased from $900 million to $1.5 billion during the current year despite the (coronavirus) pandemic," he said. "We hope that it will reach $2 billion by next year."

He said relations between the brotherly countries "goes back to thousands of years" as the people of Bangladesh and Türkiye hold "fraternal friendliness."

As the South Asian country's GDP growth rate was at 6.94% for fiscal year 2021, "the agriculture sector contributed 12.07% to GDP in FY21," he said.

As its economy is recognized as the one of world's fastest-growing, "(The) Asian Development Bank has stated that GDP growth in Bangladesh is the highest in the Asia-Pacific region," he said.

"This robust growth enabled Bangladesh to elevate itself into the lower middle-income country status in 2015."

The mango event will last three days. -