The Sunday News
Dumisani Nsingo, Senior Business Reporter
THE Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) Company says it will not cancel this year’s edition of its annual multi-national exhibition, instead, it has been postponed to a date yet to be advised as the firm keenly follows the containment of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
ZITF Company board chairman Mr Busisa Moyo said in an interview that this year’s international multi-sectorial exhibition, which was supposed to have been held last week has not been cancelled but would still be staged at a late date.
“ZITF has been postponed for the time being and will be held at date to be announced,” he said.
Mr Moyo further hinted that no revenue would be lost as the showcase has not been cancelled.
“No revenue will be lost as we are looking at a postponement and not at a cancellation,” he said.
ZITF is the exhibition organiser’s major cash cow with other forms of revenue coming from the hosting of other annual exhibitions such as Mine Entra, Water, Sanitation and Energy Conference, Sanganai/Hlanganani Expo as well as hiring out its facilities as venues for the hosting of various events. The company also collects rentals from companies operating offices within the exhibition centre.
This year’s showcase was scheduled to run from 21 to 25 April under the theme “Augmenting Trade and Investment towards a Shared Economic Vision”. Before the outbreak of Covid-19 and subsequently postponement of the country’s premier exhibition, ZITF Company had sold 94 percent of its exhibition space.
“Our management team is in touch with our earnest exhibitors and assessing the situation as it unfolds. It’s not only Zimbabwe that is affected, support industries such as airlines, hotels are currently down and our foreign exhibitors are also on lockdown in their countries due to Covid-19,” said Mr Moyo.
Seven countries, namely Belarus, Botswana, Japan, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Tanzania had confirmed their participation. Mr Moyo said the company was also looking at remodelling the exhibition through adoption of new technologies.
“We will have to re-think, innovate, modernise and upgrade our formatting of exhibitions in a post Covid-19 world, employ adapted ICT (Information and Communication Technology), Fourth Industrial Revolution and Smart Green Design, thinking around how we can promote trade and investment. Our young people who are tech-savvy will be key to a futuristic offering delivered globally with a wider reach,” he said.
@DNsingo
