AfricaPress-Tanzania: AFTER the reopening of colleges and sports activities, the government has announced to proceed with preparations for the annual Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF), sending a signal of conquering the coronavirus pandemic.
The government, through the Ministry of Industry and Trade, insisted in a statement released at the weekend that, the event would take place at the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Trade Fair Ground along Kilwa Road in Dar es Salaam.
Tanzania, under the strong leadership of President John Magufuli, has shown all signs of defeating the virus as most socioeconomic activities resumed to their normalcy.
Since when it recorded the first coronavirus case, Tanzania did not jump into the one-size-fits-all copy and paste lockdown approach applied by most countries, instead it opted for other preventive measures, including the use of sanitisers, handwashing and wearing of facemasks to contain the pandemic.
However, the 44th DITF event, which is expected to attract tens of hundreds of local and foreigner participants, will unlike previous years strictly observe anti-coronavirus measures to avoid the spread of the deadly disease, with participants required to adhere to all precautions and preventive measures as recommended by health experts.
For example, the number of foreign exhibitors at the 43rd DITF increased to 580 compared to 508 last year, while local exhibitors were 3,145 from 2,956 at the 42nd trade fair.
In addition, visitors from within and outside the country will be granted an opportunity to visit the trade fair through online live-streaming and virtual exhibition.
All business to business meetings will this time take place through online platforms, such as video conferencing. This is the new innovation prompted by the pandemic that will in one way or another make more businesspeople take active participation in the annual exhibition event through online platforms.
The use of online platforms for exhibitors particularly local producers will give them an opportunity to promote their products as well as enter into important deals for business expansion.
The DIFT is also an opportunity for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to expand and find new markets for their products and services that will in turn boost business growth and contribute to economic development.
Furthermore, through the annual trade fair SMEs will get an opportunity to learn and acquire new technologies which are important for improving their products and services.
Therefore, local manufacturers should take advantage of this unique opportunity of the trade fair to promote their goods and services to utilise more markets and boost their earnings.
