Dried mangoes draw crowds at Istanbul energy show

MANILA, Philippines - We all know that dried mangoes are a favorite among Filipinos but the popularity of this exotic delicacy snack to foreigners is largely underestimated.

At the recent international roadshow of the Department of Energy (DOE) held in Istanbul, Turkey last month, Philippine dried mangoes became a sure hit among key energy players and stakeholders who flocked to the Philippine exhibition booth.

The Department of Energy joined the international exhibition to showcase the country’s oil and gas exploration potential under the so-called Philippine Energy Contracting Round (PECR) 5 and to attract energy investors. Thus, the Philippine delegation not only promoted the country’s oil and gas resources but the country’s famous mangoes as well. 

This year’s exhibition, dubbed as the American Association of Petroleum Geologists International Conference Exhibition, was held at the city’s Istanbul Congress Center from September 14 to 17, 2014.        

It is a practice among participants in such international exhibitions to prepare tokens for visitors dropping by the respective booths. While other booths had ballpens, pencils, USBs, ecobags, notebooks, caps and candies as souvenirs, the Philippines brought small packs of dried mangoes to give away to visitors as a token of appreciation for visiting the booth. 

And they kept coming back for more. 

The Philippine booth also showcased Philippine indigenous clothing as its decor, small native bags made of abaca and miniature jeepney souvenirs that were raffled off to those who dropped their cards.

But more than these token reflections of Philippine culture, the roadshow was a success because of the teamwork of the Philippine delegation led by Energy Undersecretary Zenaida Monsada. 

The STAR witnessed how all the members of the team worked tirelessly to come up with a successful exhibition.

The conference became an opportunity for the delegation to hold exploratory talks with ExxonMobil Corporation and the Turkish Petroleum International Company for possible stakes in energy resource development in the Philippines, Monsada said.

 “We look forward that the interest will convert into bids, that they will invest, explore and succeed in the Philippines,” she told The STAR. 

May Militante, roadshow spokesperson, said the Philippine booth attracted at least 200 potential investors. 

The DOE booth at the exhibition focused on the PECR5 blocks to be offered and data packages, available online which prospective PECR participants may avail of to evaluate the blocks offered.