COMPETITIVENESS IN MANGO TRADE: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN PAKISTAN ANDOTHER MANGO EXPORTING NATIONS

Abstract

This paper analyses the Pakistan’s mango export competitiveness against other leading mango producers and exporters. Using the trade data between the years 2010 and 2016, this paper estimates several revealed comparative advantage (RCA) indices, particularly inversion revealed comparative advantage (InRCA), revealed symmetric comparative advantage (RSCA) and competitive export performance (CEP) for each country compared. The results suggest that the competitiveness of Pakistan mangoes export was stable during the study period except in 2014-2015, when Pakistan’s competitiveness declined. At the same period, Mexico, Thailand and Philippines had increased comparative advantage in mango export, presenting a serious threat to Pakistan’s mango export potentials. An index of comparative export performance (CEP) indicates that Pakistan had a comparative advantage against most of the top mango producing and exporting countries expect Thailand and Philippines. The results indicate that Pakistan mango export exhibits strong comparative advantage, however to gain consistency in export competitiveness, Pakistan needs more managerial efforts from public and private institutions to address issues like food safety, importing countries’ quarantine requirements and sanitary & phytosanitary (SPS) restrictions.