Huge visitors throng the Dhaka International Trade Fair in Dhaka on Sunday, its concluding day. — FE Photo The 23rd Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF 2018) ended on Sunday with the exhibitors receiving spot export orders worth Tk 1.60 billion and transactions amounting to Tk 870 million.
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed disclosed the statistics related to the export orders and sales as the chief guest of the closing ceremony of the fair at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the city. Commerce Secretary Subhasish Bose chaired the programme.
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Commerce Chairman Md Tajul Islam Choudhury, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry President Md Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, and Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) Vice Chairman Bijoy Bhattacharya also spoke on the occasion.
The commerce minister in his speech said, "The trade fair was more successful this year than the previous years with gorgeous decoration by the exhibitors and huge response from the visitors."
He said the participants of DITF 2018 have received export orders of $20 million or Tk 1.60 billion. Besides, the traders have also made sales of Tk 870 million during the 35-day fair.
Tofail Ahmed also informed that the government has been constructing a permanent exhibition venue on 35 acres of land at Purbachal with a budget of Tk 5.0 billion, which will host trade fairs in near future.
Bangladesh started its export in 1972 with items worth $348 million, which reached $34.84 billion in 2016-17 fiscal year, and in the current fiscal it will rise to $37.50 billion.
The government has also set a target of exporting products and services worth $60 billion by 2021, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, the commerce secretary said the global export trade in 1970 was $2.5 trillion that reached $22 trillion in 2015, increasing 10 times.
On the other hand, Bangladesh's export reached $34.84 billion in 2016 from $348 million in 1972, showing an impressive increase of over 100 times.
The government has been facilitating the country's business community with business-friendly export and import policies, he added.
Focusing on product diversification, the FBCCI president said the exhibitors, especially those of furniture, electronics, ceramics and leather sectors, displayed arrays of diversified products in DITF.
"We have huge thriving sectors which are growing slowly but steadily. There is no point of complacency, we have to march forward," he opined.
At the closing ceremony, EPB awarded 43 pavilions, stalls and organisations under 13 categories for their trade performance in the fair.
According to EPB data, there were a total of 589 stalls and pavilions, including 64 premium pavilions, 27 foreign pavilions and eight mini foreign pavilions, along with 24 food stalls in the fair venue.
Apart from the local companies, 44 participants from 17 foreign countries, including India, Bhutan, Pakistan, China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Nepal, Japan, Australia, Germany, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, joined the fair this year.
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