PKSF Development Fair ends

The seven-day Development Fair in Dhaka ended on Wednesday amid good sales of local products.

The first six days witnessed sales amounting to Tk3.66 crore. This was Tk2.28 crore more than that in the previous edition in 2017, said officials at the Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), the host organisation. 

On an average, 45,000 visitors flocked to the fair every day. 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the fair at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka on November 14. A total of 190 stalls of 125 organisations were set up there.

PKSF's partner organisations from across the country, government and non-government organisations, research and IT institutions and service providers were among the participants.

Various products such as handicrafts, garments, jute products, dairy items, snacks, chemical-free vegetables and fruits, alloy and gold-plated ornaments and footwear were on put display at the fair. 

These were all manufactured by micro-entrepreneurs in rural regions.

The fair is organised biannually to help micro-entrepreneurs expand the market for their products with financial and technical assistance from PKSF under its various programmes.

Md Fazlul Kader, deputy managing director of PKSF, said "Microentrepreneurship has created more than 57 percent of the total employment, but it contributes only 25 percent to the GDP. This means that employees lack productivity."

Skill development is crucial to increasing productivity so that their products can compete in domestic and foreign markets, he added. 

PKSF has identified rural businesses with a view to building natural business clusters and is providing them with a competitive edge, he added. 

"That is why PKSF intervenes in the value chain. Organising the Development Fair is part of their initiatives," Fazlul told The Business Standard.