Like previous years, the Commerce Ministry and Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) organised month-long 28th Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF) at the Bangabandhu Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Centre (BBCFEC) in Purbachal that ended on 20 February, 2024. With a view to attracting local and foreign visitors, the exhibitors brought innovative architectural view at their pavilions and stalls made of various materials such as steel, board, wood, bamboo, electric cables, lights, colour and ceramic items. Premium pavilions, premium mini pavilions, reserved pavilions for women, foreign pavilions, general pavilions and food stalls were set up at the fair venue. A good number of architects and carpenters as well as workers used to work hard to set up the pavilion and stalls to attract visitors and make the fair a success. The minimum rent for the Premier Pavilion floor was around Tk 22 lakh, the stall rent Tk 4 lakh for general stalls and Tk 4.5 lakh for reserved stalls. And, the minimum rent for the reserved mini pavilion was Tk 11 lakh. However, more than 304 companies showcased their products at this edition of the fair, with nine enterprises from five countries—India, Hong Kong, Türkey, Indonesia, and Singapore. The exhibitors displayed local and foreign products, including electronics, apparel, jute and leather goods, furniture, plastic products, handicrafts and various food items in the stalls. Many traders offered discounts ranging from 5 to 30 per cent as well.
41 organizations received awards At the closing ceremony of the fair, the authority gave the awards for best pavilions among the participants at the fair like previous years. A total of 41 stalls and pavilions were awarded the best participants in various categories. This year, 14 best pavilions and stalls in various categories got the first prize of Gold Colour Trophy, 15 pavilions and stalls of different categories got the second prize Silver Colour Trophy, and 12 pavilions and stalls of different categories got third prize Bronze Colour Trophy. They were awarded for winning the appreciation of customers through service and making a significant contribution to the overall success of the fair.
Like other companies, Walton Hi-Tech Industries PLC received “Gold colour Trophy” as the first prize of the best stall in the electronics product category at the DITF. Talking to the Ceramic Bangladesh, Walton coordinator at DITF-2024 Tarikul Islam said, they set up their pavilion by their own architect, used most of their own electronics materials like lights and cables except boards and steel. And they built a pavilion with three general stalls and one premium stall at Hall-‘A’ of the DITF. It covered 20 feet by 80 feet space there.
“Before building a pavilion, we thought how much innovation could be brought to the pavilion as per our management direction. And, we created a theme related to our products. We followed international standard. We just displayed our products to inform customers about the products not to sell in the fair,” he also said.
In-charge of the architecture designing section of the company Md Monir Hossain Khan said, “We have to think about many issues like cost, colour, height, space, and reuse of the materials. The Bangabandhu Tunnel was our focal point this year. At first, we make a design by computer on our theme. And, we set a focal point so that visitors are attracted to see our pavilion.”
The head of architect of Walton also informed that they need 3-4 days to set up a pavilion in any exhibition. “Some 70-72 Walton staffers including designers, electricians, and carpenters worked to construct the pavilion at DITF-2024. Our total budget was TK 18 lakh to construct this year’s pavilion. We will reuse 70% materials used to set up it. So, we try to use maximum used materials,” he also said.
The largest pavilion at this trade fair was PRAN-RFL Group. The three-storied pavilion had a huge collection of the country’s best household products.
Export orders worth Tk 392 crore with cash sales of Tk 400 crore State Minister for Commerce Mr. Ahsanul Islam said that the Dhaka International Trade Fair will be diversified from next year to increase the country’s exports. He said, seminar, symposium will be organized in the next fair to increase the interest of foreign buyers.
The Vice Chairman of EPB and Chief Executive Officer AHM Ahsan said they received good response from visitors in the fair. “Our export order increased 15 per cent this year compared to the previous year. We received export orders worth USD 3.56 million, which is equivalent to about Tk 392 crore, with cash sales of around Tk 400 crore.” However, they plan to arrange a 3-5 days ‘sourcing fair’ at the Purbachal venue for foreigners to attract them to the expo from next year. Because foreign companies do not want to participate in a month-long fair. He explained that they have a committee to select the best pavilions for the award. They scrutinise various issues to select them. Basically they asked exhibitors to fill-in a form about export orders. Later, EPB announced final amount after collecting all data. The DITF usually started on the first day of the New Year, but this year the fair was deferred it to the third week of January due to the 12th parliament elections.
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