Unprepared trade fair pulls a big crowd

On the first day of the Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF), a large crowd of visitors thronged the premises of the Bangabandhu Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Centre at Purbachal on Saturday.

Although the presence of people was more than expected, the buyers were disappointed with the unprepared fair held on the outskirts of the capital.

After the inauguration of the 26th edition of the DITF by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the morning, the presence of visitors was increasing since noon.

As the first day of the New Year was a weekly holiday, many people from Dhaka and its environs arrived at the fair along with their families.

Photo: Md Jahidul Islam

As soon as a visitor enters the main gate of the fair, they can hear the sound of hammers making different stalls. Except for 2/3 of the foreign pavilions, no foreign stalls were ready on the first day. Stall workers were seen busy painting or arranging products. Most of the stalls inside the main building were unprepared.

But the organising committee says that the number of people attending the fair this year will be higher than other years and the sales will be better.

Regarding the unprepared fair, the authorities say every year the fair remains unprepared at the beginning in the same way. Earlier, three to four stalls were prepared for the inauguration by the prime minister but in that comparison, many stalls are ready this year.

Jasmine Akhter, a visitor from Tejgaon, expressed frustration and said that after coming from so far with her whole family, she found the fair was mostly unprepared. Although many shops were open, they did not start selling, she added.

As they wanted to eat, they found the food canteen was not fully operational, she said, adding, "We couldn't take food in half an hour."

Jewel Hasan, who came from Gulshan, told The Business Standard, "The authorities needed to get the fair ready before its inauguration. I am a little disappointed after such a long journey with my family."

Since the first day of the year was a Saturday, the organisers needed to be prepared for the crowd, Shamsul Alam, who visited the fair from Motijheel with his family, told TBS.

He also complained about the dilapidated condition of the road to the fair venue.

Imam Ashiq, a sales executive at Pran, said, "The presence of visitors was good to dispel our fears of a low number of people at the fair.

"Now the biggest problem here is travel. We also have to struggle to arrive at the fair. We will give combo offers but today we are giving a 10% discount if one buys goods worth Tk100 for the first day," he added.

Jabed Yusuf, head of marketing at Delhi Aluminium, "Today is a holiday so the presence of visitors is good. We are worried about the road condition. If the road is good, the presence of people will be good too."

"We have no special discounts or offers. Goods are sold from our main showroom in Chattogram," he added.

Manjurul Haque, a representative of Walton's Walcard.com, said, "This year our main purpose is not to sell but to put our products on display. Today many people are visiting our stall."

"The work of arranging our stalls was not completed. We would have prepared it earlier if we had realised that it would be so crowded on the first day," he said.

Motaharul Islam, deputy manager of the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, who is in charge of the canteen, said, "We were not fully prepared. So there is a little problem in making and supplying food. From tomorrow, we will be fully prepared."

"We have to make it instantly so it takes a little time. However, it is possible to meet the demand," he added.

There will be 25 manpower in each of two shifts for 500 seats at the canteen.

Mohammad Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, director of the fair organising committee and secretary of the Export Promotion Bureau, said, "We will have 1,600 more police and traffic members in the coming days. Besides, there are members of law enforcement agencies in white clothes alongside the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the detective branch of police (DB).

"We have 147 cameras on buildings. We have set up additional 60cc cameras on the road. There is a parking space for 1,300 vehicles," he added.

Asked if the distance would have any effect, he told TBS that most parts of the road were cleared and there will be more people coming to Purbachal than in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.

Regarding the unpreparedness of most of the stalls, he said, "Hopefully, the whole fair will be ready by tomorrow (Sunday) night."

The number of stalls in the fair this year was almost half compared to that of the previous years, he said, adding, "Even after our allotment, many people applied for stalls but were not granted allocations."

Mohammad Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said less number of stalls have been allocated to facilitate the movement of people.

He further said that every year the fair starts in such an unprepared state and the preparations are completed gradually.