Participants are busy taking last-minute preparations with the 18th Dhaka International Trade Fair 2013 set to begin at the city’s Sher-E-Bangla Nagar today. — New Age photo

The 18th Dhaka International Trade Fair -2013 begins today at Sher-E-Bangla Nagar in the capital.
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina as the chief guest is expected to inaugurate the month-long fair. Export Promotion Bureau and Ministry of Commerce are jointly organising the country’s flagship.
‘Our preparations to hold the trade fair is satisfactory..stalls have been allocated to both local and foreign companies in a transparent manner this year although the number of stalls is less than previous year,’ said Commerce minister GM Quader at a press conference on the fair premises on Monday.
Commerce secretary Mahbub Ahmed, additional secretary of the ministry ATM Mortoza Reza Chowdhury and EPB vice-chairman Shubhashish Bose were, among others, present on the occasion.
Quader said the fair mainly aimed to showcase our exportable products to the visitors from home and abroad so that the foreign participants had a quick look at our quality products.
He said the government planned to set up a permanent exhibition centre on 20 acres of land to meet the country’s growing demand for organizing trade fairs.
The planned permanent trade centre would be built with financial support from the Chinese government, he said, adding the process to set up the much-needed centre would start soon.
Introduction of e-trading (electronic trading), eco-park with theme of the Sundarbans, e-park, smoking zone, separate foreign zone and count down clock are among the salient features of this year’s DITF.
A total of 30 companies from twelve countries are participating in this year’s fair. Japan and Singapore are new in the show.
An array of local and international products will be displayed in 362 stalls of the show, which has 90 pavilions and 42 mini pavilions. The fair will remain open from 10am to 10 pm every day for all with an entry fee of Tk 20 for adult and Tk 10 for children.