Staff Reporter :
The 21st Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF) 2016 will begin in the city’s Agargaon area today (Friday).
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to inaugurate the fair.
The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), responsible for organising the event, in a press briefing said on Thursday, the authority is expecting an increased number of visitors and export orders this time.
Organiser expects 0.1 million visitors the fair daily this year.
[“We are hopeful of getting greater number of export orders this year as we have given extra efforts to attract foreign buyers to visit the fair,” Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed told the reporters during the press briefing.
“Besides, favourable environment and widespread publicity will also help attract more visitors,” he felt.
The EPB got orders worth Tk 850 million in 2015 compared with Tk 800 million in the previous year.
A total of 553 stalls, pavilions and mini pavilions have been allotted to local and foreign companies. Last year there were 497 stalls and pavilions in the DITF. According to fair organising committee, 56 stalls have been allotted to companies from 21 foreign countries.
The participating foreign countries include the USA, India, Pakistan, the UAE,Singapore, Thailand, and Turkey. This year, according to the organizer, foreign participants from seven new countries confirmed their participation in the DITF.
However, the fair organising committee sources informed that the government had planned to take extra security measures to ensure smooth running of this year’s fair. The whole fair venue would be under 100 close circuit cameras as part of strict security measures.
They said that RAB, Police, BGB and Ansar members would be deployed along with private security forces in and around the fair ground.
But most of the stalls and pavilions are yet to be readied for products display although the EPB says that it will be ready within next two or three days.
Products like machinery, carpet, cosmetic and beauty aids, electrical and electronics, jute goods, leather and leather goods and footwear, sport goods, sanitary ware, toys, stationary, watches, jewellery, ceramics, tableware, locally made apparels, cable, melamine, processed foods, furniture and handicrafts will be displayed in the fair.
Senior Secretary of Commerce Ministry Hedayetullah Al Mamoon and President, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) Abdul Matlub Ahmad were present at the press brief among others.
