Organisers hope for a thriving trade fair at Purbachal
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will virtually inaugurate the trade fair this morning
The Dhaka International Trade Fair at Purbachal, set to open on 1 January 2022, will be a thriving event even if the venue is a little far away, because it is an extended area of Dhaka where the communication system has been developed extensively.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi expressed the hope at a press conference on the upcoming trade fair at Bangabandhu Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Centre at Purbachal on Friday.
This is the first time the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) is organising the trade fair at Purbachal with the cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, instead of its traditional venue at Agargaon in the capital.
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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will virtually inaugurate the trade fair this morning.
The commerce minister said the fair will play an important role in achieving the government's $51 billion export revenue target.
In reply to a query from reporters over the dilapidated condition of the road from Kuril to Purbachal, he said 90% of the road development work has been completed. The rest of the work will be completed in a short time.
Asked whether the fair will be successful outside the capital, Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh told The Business Standard, "Besides Dhaka, people from Narayanganj, Gazipur and Narsingdi will also come to the fair. There is more open space here, so there will be a huge gathering of people."
A visit to the trade fair venue on Friday revealed that construction of most of the stalls and pavilions was yet to be completed. Many of the firms involved are still building their stall infrastructure.
EPB Secretary and Director of the fair Md Iftikher Ahmed Chowdhury told TBS that a lot of work will be done overnight.
The commerce minister said this year's fair will have comparatively fewer stalls and pavilions than in previous years as fears of the new Covid variant Omicron continue to grow. More open spaces have been kept so that visitors can move around comfortably in the open environment.
In 2020, when the fair was last held, there were 483 pavilions and stalls, while this year the number has dwindled to 225, according to the EPB. There will be six stalls and four mini pavilions set up by foreign organisations.
Organisers said the participation of foreign companies is less this year due to the pandemic. "South Korea, India and Turkey are directly participating in the fair. In addition, organisations from many countries are participating through local agents," said the EPB secretary.
Ticket and time
The gate of the international trade fair will open at 10am every day and close at 9pm, except for government holidays when the fair will run till 10pm. Every adult visitor will have to pay Tk40 as entry fee, while for minors the ticket price has been set at Tk20.
Transportation
To ease transportation to the fair, 30 BRTC buses will run from under the Kuril flyover to the fair from 8am to 10pm every day. A visitor will need to pay Tk25 for each trip.
EPB Secretary Iftikher Chowdhury said the BRTC has promised to increase the number of buses to 50 if needed. In addition, all BRTC buses running from Motijheel will go to the venue via Kuril.
The Dhaka International Trade Fair was first held in 1995. Over the years, it has grown into a popular medium for local entrepreneurs to familiarise the public with their brands.
