The 2014 Tainan International Mango Festival will kick off this Saturday in the southern city of Tainan.
This is the second year for the event, held by the Council of Agriculture in conjunction with Tainan. Last year, mango sales grew by 70% over the previous year.
Tainan Deputy Mayor Yen Chun-tso said on Tuesday that this year’s festival will see buyers from Japan, China, Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, Vietnam, the United States, Canada and even East Timor.
Agricultural Minister Chen Bao-ji said the fruit has helped boost not only mango sales but also local tourism.
“In addition to local consumers, tourists also buy a lot of mangoes. Mangoes are very expensive in Japan. But if they eat one mango every morning, noon and night they are in Taiwan, they’ll get their money’s worth,” said Chen.
The production volume of mangoes this year reached more than 140,000 tons.