Malaysians can get their fix of mandarins for Chinese New Year with the Pakistani Kinnow Mandarin Festival launched on 8 February.
The Pakistan high commissioner to Malaysia, Syed Hassan Raza, was present to kick off the promotions at a shopping mall in Petaling Jaya, just outside of Kuala Lumpur.
Raza told local media site Bernama that Pakistani kinnows meet international standards, producing some 2m tonnes of fruit annualy, accounting for 85 per cent of the world’s kinnow mandarins.
“The fruits are exported to European countries, China, Russia, South East Asia and the Middle East,” said Raza. “Kinnow mandarins are harvested using modern methods that reach international standards of food safety and hygiene, and the same quality controls are applied at the post-harvest, exporting and packaging stages.”
The Kinnow Festival was also held in Singapore in January with promotions at major supermarket chains, with Reza confident market access will be gained for Indonesia and Hong Kong next year. Pakistani kinnows are available from November through March.
