Dhaka International Trade Fair (DIFT) 2021 will be arranged if the coronavirus situation improves, said Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi on Sunday, reports UNB.
The Minister came up with the announcement at a virtual programme at the secretariat.
Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming handed over the Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Center (BCFEC) to the Minister virtually at the event.
“A possible date was fixed upon consultation with the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) to arrange the trade fair and we got primary approval in this regard. Then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked us to go slow due to the coronavirus situation. The arrangement of the trade fair fully depends on the corona situation,” said Munshi.
Although the trade fair was scheduled to be held at its permanent venue at Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Centre (BCFEC) in Purbachal it is still uncertain when it will be arranged.
The government has a plan to hold all trade and export exhibitions at the BCFEC from now on, said the Minister. He also expressed hope that the center will help to boost export from Bangladesh.
The work on the project began in October, 2017 with an estimated cost of Tk 1305.50 crore including Tk 625.70 crore assistance from China. Chinese firm China State Construction Engineering implemented the project.
BCFEC has all the requirements for a world-class venue including hall rooms, conference centres, trade information centres, meeting halls, press centre, service rooms, modern car parking, round-the-clock CCTV and even its own power substation.
According to the EPB, there were 483 stalls of different organizations from 21 countries including Bangladesh in the 25th edition. Around Tk 200 crores in export orders were received by Bangladeshi firms at the country's biggest trade show in the 25th edition.