The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

The 15th Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF-2010) is gaining momentum as thousands of people - men, women and children - converged at the fair during the weekend on Friday.

The number of visitors increased to a great extent on the holiday - a chilly sunny day - with hundreds of people seen standing in long queues seeking to enter the fair.

The visitors, especially women and teenagers, were busy buying jewelry, cosmetics, crockery, textile products and other household goods.

Since its inception in 1995, the DITF has become an ideal opening for entrepreneurs to expand business, as foreign and local buyers visit such an exposition looking for products of their choice.

The DITF-2010, organised by Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) and the Commerce Ministry, expects more export orders this time. The fair got a poor response during the last two years because of global economic recession.

"This year, we are hopeful about getting export orders of around Tk 300 million (30 crore)," said Abdur Rahman, EPB director (policy and planning), who expects more foreign visitors this time.

Export orders in 2006 were around Tk 24.68 crore, which came down to Tk 22.60 crore in 2008 and Tk 19.91 crore in 2009.

Taufiqur Rahman, an executive of Walton Bangladesh Limited, said they are getting good response from the fair. About response from the foreign buyers, he said two Chinese companies have shown interest about their TVs. Besides, he informed that the process of exporting 100,000 pieces of refrigerators to Malaysia is underway.

Md. Anisur Rahman of Asian Textile Mills Ltd. said buyers from Europe, Yemen and Korea have already taken samples from their special pavilion and they hope to get some good spot orders from them.

He said they are displaying different kinds of standard quality fabrics including pant pieces ranging Tk 300-Tk 1800, suit pieces ranging Tk 1500 to Tk 20,000 and shirt pieces ranging Tk 500 to Tk 1500.

While visiting a special Pakistani pavilion, Md Nazimuddin Khan, of 'She N She Traders' said they are getting good response from the local crowd. "Especially our imitation jewelry, ladies' and gents' leather sandals, and woolen shawls are very much in demand."

Talking to UNB, a salesman at an Iranian pavilion said their sales were good, as demand for their products is high.

Shuvo, a salesman of 'Craftsman Eco Product Ltd.' under the Jute Diversification and Promotion Center, said their jute-based products including handbags, travel bags, office bags and ornament box, are attracting the visitors.

"Buyers from Korea, China and Japan have also taken samples from us," he added.

The month-long fair exhibits a wide range of products including aluminum utensils, leather and leather goods, footwear, handicrafts, agro-based products, light-engineering products, woven garments, knitwear, jute and jute products, frozen foods and bicycles.

Besides ceramic tableware, home textiles, household appliances, textile products, pharmaceuticals, chemical products, machinery, agriculture and gardening equipment, chemical and allied products are also on sale.

Different stalls also display an array of cosmetics and beauty aids, dairy products and equipment, electrical and electronic items, foodstuff and grocery, gift and novelty items, furniture, building materials, sports goods, sanitary ware, toys, stationery, watches, clocks and jewelry.

Some foreign business visitors have already shown interest to buy various products from Bangladesh for sale in their countries.

The buyers from China, Iran, Italy, UK, Sweden, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan are visiting the month-long fair looking for Bangladesh's leather items, ceramic ware, jute products and textile products, said EPB sources.

Some 476 national and international companies are participating in the fair to showcase their products, of which, 28 pavilions came from 10 different countries. The major foreign participating companies are India, Pakistan, China, Sri Lanka, Iran, Malaysia, Turkey and Thailand.

Earlier, on January 1, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the month-long fair at Agargaon in the capital.

The fair is scheduled to conclude on January 31.