A trade fair of sorts

The Dhaka International Trade Fair was launched to showcase Bangladeshi products to overseas importers in addition to showcasing products of other countries products. Unfortunately far from spurring more exports the Fair has been downgraded to a platform for sales of goods by local manufacturers and surprisingly importers. This has not produced the fillip expected for mostly small and medium-scale industry thereby actually hindering their growth, especially in terms of quality.

Larger local companies vying for a position as exporters set up their pavilions and stalls but their target again seems to be local consumers. The Fair lacks true internationalism in the absence of parley platforms between manufacturers and prospective foreign buyers. Targeted countries for diversification of exports are not identified or invited accordingly and from that perspective it has become what it has.

Time after time there have been calls to transform the Fair into the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) kind of annual event where buyers are invited and spot orders amount in chores, albeit nowhere near expectations. But for reasons unknown, the Ministry of Commerce is content with local consumers being the only customers.

Significantly, the Fair has become a sort of under-cut market where sellers pile on offers such as freebies. Anyone worth their business salt will know that nothing in life comes free and that such freebies' costs are built into the original prices charged.

Yet the Fair held great promise for innovative products and services that are beginning to flourish. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been exhorting opportunities to showcase their products but at trade fairs at home and abroad they are not given positional stalls or encouragement to put their products on display.

They are the largest employers and have incorporated significant innovation in further development of their product array. A lack of scrutiny of companies and products on display at the Trade Fair leads to consumers being hoodwinked under promises of quality that just are not true.

Young promoters employed on a seasonal basis try to sell the benefit of these products but most of these are not certified by the Standards Institution that is a seal of quality, at least to an extent. Once again the hapless consumer is victim to razzle-dazzle promotions without assurance of quality.

The Fair could also be a forum for the various innovations being launched at different platforms thus allowing such innovation to be tested against standard products and services available at home and abroad.

This year the numbers of stalls are much smaller than in previous years thereby begging the question whether even sellers are considering the investment worth adequate returns.

On the contrary, those companies that have already been successful in exporting their produce are focused on local market sales to balance the volume v value equation so crucial to such businesses. The end of Fair figures might show turnover in the millions but that could be short-term gains at the expense of long term growth.

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