26th Dhaka International Trade Fair kicks off Saturday in Purbachal
The country's only yearly international trade fair is going to be inaugurated on Saturday at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Center in Purbachal on the outskirts of the capital.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the fair virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban at 10am tomorrow.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi will preside over the function, which will be attended by ministers, state ministers, foreign ambassadors, political leaders, FBCCI president and leaders of various trade bodies.
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This year 23 pavilions, 27 mini pavilions, 162 stalls and 15 food stalls have been leased to various local and international organisations.
The commerce ministry and the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) jointly organised the 26th edition of the fair at the Purbachal site for the first time. The government changed the venue from Agargaon to Purbachal as the previous location is too small to accommodate a large number of participants and visitors.
The venue
The Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Centre, built at a cost of Tk817 crore, comprises a total of 33,000 square metres of floor space. The auditorium inside the exhibition building has a cafeteria that can serve at least 500 people at once.
Apart from business stalls and pavilions, there will be food courts, restrooms, and a playground for kids at the fair.
Ticket and time
The gate of the international trade fair will open at 10 am every day and close at 9 pm, except for government holidays when the fair will run till 10pm. Every adult visitor will have to pay Tk40 for entry tickets while for minors the ticket price has been set at Tk20.
Transportation
To ease transportation to the fair, the government has taken several initiatives, including deploying 30 BRTC buses which 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.
Meanwhile, megaprojects of the country have been adopted as themes for this year's gate at the fair. There are four entrances to the main gate, which has been given a round shape like the Karnaphuli tunnel with a symbolic structure of the Padma Bridge over it. The entrances also have Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, Metrorail as symbolic structures.
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 their brands
