Shoppers
gather at a pavilion of plastic crockery at Dhaka International Trade
Fair yesterday, the concluding day of the annual show meant for local
manufacturers to display their products and build network with foreign
buyers. Photo: Anisur Rahman
The Dhaka International Trade Fair has become an exposition for importers, not local manufacturers.
The country's biggest trade show that came to a close yesterday was
meant to be an annual venue for local manufacturers to display a diverse
array of products and help them network with buyers from overseas.
But it now seems to be a lost opportunity.
This year round, the DITF was infested with traders selling imported items and local substandard products.
Only 20 percent of the 471 stalls and pavilions at the fair showcased
locally-made products with quality that can beat foreign brands. The
rest were filled by importers, traders and distributors.
Participation of major local brands was limited to sectors such as furniture, kitchenware, foods and textiles.
A number of local garment traders and tailoring houses based in New
Market, Chandni Chowk and Islampur rented stalls at the show. Nearly two
dozens tailors from the capital's Elephant Road set up stalls to sell
low-quality blazers, each selling for as low as Tk 1,300.
Vendors and hawkers occupied footpaths with makeshift shops that call to
mind the scenes of roadside shopping seen across the city.
In association with the commerce ministry, the Export Promotion Bureau
has been organising the month-long exhibition at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar
since 1995.
Export orders at the show fell by a half to Tk 80.44 crore this year,
compared to the previous edition, as political unrest kept foreign
buyers at bay.
Its stated objective is to project quality exportable products of the country to the visitors from home and abroad.
Organisers say the fair aims to give scope to local producers in the
remote areas, who do not have financial strength to participate in fairs
abroad to display their products to international buyers.
In reality, the presence of local small-scale producers was confined only to three pavilions.
The pavilion of Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation
allowed 18 small companies to set up stalls for selling paper products,
garments, handicrafts, herbal items, jute products, leather items and
home textiles.
Seven Hazaribagh-based leather product manufacturers set up eight stalls
at the pavilion owned by Business Promotion Council of the commerce
ministry.
About 20 jute product-makers displayed items made of the natural fibre
at the pavilion of Jute Diversification Promotion Centre.
Seven cash-strapped women entrepreneurs took part in the fair in the
same stall under the banner of Grassroots Women Entrepreneurs Society,
as they could not afford to rent the space alone.
Shahnaz Begum, a woman entrepreneur, said she and several other small
entrepreneurs came to the fair in hope of getting in touch with foreign
buyers. "But we have failed to bag a single buyer as there was not so
many of them."
Officials of FT Husain Tyre, a tyre-maker for medium-sized trucks, bikes
and three-wheelers, said they had contacts with businessmen from
Singapore and Canada during the fair, but no export deal was reached.
A number of entrepreneurs said the fair could not live up to the
expectations if the objective was to promote local products and help
them find overseas markets.
"Besides, the low quality products flooded the fair," said one of them. Entrepreneurs also termed the rent of the stalls huge.
"About half a dozen companies from Rangamati used to take part in the
fair even five years ago, but only two of them took part this year. The
rest might be unsure about the return on the investment," said Tansen
Barua, an entrepreneur from the hill district.
The entrepreneurs said traders got the most space because of corruption
on the part of the authorities. They also urged the EPB to separate out
local producers from importers and traders.
Asif Ibrahim, a leading exporter in the country, said the DITF has not
reached the international stature yet. As a result, there is a lack of
interest among domestic manufacturers to utilise the fair effectively.
The former president of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry called for setting up a permanent venue for the fair.
"In countries like China, they have permanent facilities at the fair
venues. If we can't upgrade our facilities we won't be able to raise the
standards of our DITF," he said.
Monowara Hakim Ali, first vice-president of the Federation of Bangladesh
Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said the EPB should sincerely look
into the quality of products, both by local and foreign companies, to be
displayed and sold at the fair.
Shubhashish Bose, vice-chairman of EPB, said the number of local
manufacturers and entrepreneurs was not as high as expected, and the EPB
could do very little in stopping importers and distributors.
"We give priority to manufacturers and entrepreneurs when we allot
stalls and pavilions. We have allotted stalls to every local producer
who has applied. If we don't get enough applications from them we can't
do anything," he told The Daily Star.
He thinks the Tk 2 lakh rent for a stall is not too high, given the rising cost of operations.
About the thin presence of foreign companies, Shubhashish said
international companies and participants are not generally interested in
a lengthy event.
