The 59th edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) ended in Bulawayo yesterday with the organisers describing this year’s fair as one of the best in recent years.
BY NKULULEKO SIBANDA
ZITF Company chairperson Ruth Ncube told journalists the showcase had been a success.
“The 59th edition of the ZITF comes to an end today [yesterday]. The exhibition was characterised by high-quality exhibits and high-level business networking,” she said. “Feedback from participants from across the board shows that ZITF 2018 is a value, adding show that continues to offer opportunities for business growth and relationship building.”
Statistics provided by the ZITF Company showed that all the exhibition space was taken up with 753 exhibitors taking part in the annual event.
“We had 753 exhibitors, 68 of which were foreign. This compares favourably to last year’s closing total of 706,” Ncube said.
“Direct exhibitors were 467, 23 of these were foreign. We also had 286 indirect exhibitors, 45 of which were foreign.”
She said exhibitors were drawn from countries such as Botswana, China, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Zambia, among others.
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“The business-to-business trading period, which constitutes the first three days of the exhibition, saw a sharp increase (114%) from last year’s 3 200 business visitors to 6 914 visitors walking through the exhibition centre,” Ncube added.
Hwange Colliery Company Limited spokesperson Rugare Dhobbie said the company had received a substantial amount of enquiries during the fair.
“The exhibition was a good platform for us to engage with our business’ stakeholders,” she said.
“Many of them came through to the stand to make enquiries and we are happy that we did get time to engage and also discuss more business opportunities.”
Johannes Nyamayedenga, the public relations manager at the Rural Electrification Agency, said the exhibition afforded the organisation time to market its products. However, showgoers said there was not much of change from what they had seen at previous events.
