The Sunday News
Roberta Katunga and Robin Muchetu Sunday News Reporters
THE 57th edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair ended on a high note yesterday with thousands of people visiting the exhibition centre amid revelations that this year’s edition saw a 40 percent increase in business visitor numbers. This year’s exhibition which ran under the theme Innovate, Integrate, Industrialise was officially opened on Friday by Togolese President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe. ZITF Company general manager Mrs Nomathemba Ndlovu yesterday said this year’s show attracted 4 935 business visitors during the first three days compared to 3 000 last year, occupied a total of 44 992 square metres which was 95 percent of the space available for sale.
“This year we took a deliberate outlook to bring focus of the show back to industry. From a sample size of 215 business visitors, 76 percent of the respondents were heavily involved in the buying activities of their companies, that is, are from advisory to final decision maker. This shows that ZITF is attracting the right calibre of business visitor with an appropriate level of influence,” said Mrs Ndlovu.
Mrs Ndlovu said 47 percent of the exhibitors received immediate orders while others generated promising leads for future sales.
Speaking on the relevance of the trade fair in the prevailing economic environment, Mrs Ndlovu said even in bad times, it was still important for companies to market themselves.
“Platforms like the ZITF help companies seek investment and sell their products. We, however, urge exhibitors to engage in pre-marketing prior to the event and make use of the electronic tools availed by the organisers in order to get the most out of the event,” she said.
This year’s show had 675 exhibitors with 386 direct and 289 indirect exhibits. Sixteen foreign nations participated with 28 direct foreign exhibitors and 77 indirect exhibitors. Some of the countries that were present included Botswana, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Russia, South Africa and Zambia while China, Cyprus, Germany, Tanzania and the United States of America were represented by individual companies.
Mrs Ndlovu said her company also partnered with the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries and will be investing on a buyer’s concept that involves inviting buyers of Zimbabwean goods and services who would hold meetings with exhibitors with the sole purpose of selling Zimbabwean products.
She said the company had been working on the concept for the just ended edition but could not introduce it due to some technical challenges. Mrs Ndlovu said: “We are prepared to invest heavily on making it happen.”
CZI president Mr Busisa Moyo said: “We will be inviting original equipment manufacturers as we seek to re-tool, innovate and industrialise. The real turnaround will be when we invite buyers of Zimbabwean goods and services in the future, but before then we must focus on making the business environment more competitive so that our exports are viable.”
Meanwhile, exhibitors expressed mixed feelings over this year’s trade fair. Some said there was a reduced number of people who visited their stands while others said they received potential leads to grow their businesses which they intend to follow.
Country manager for Rema Tip Top Zimbabwe Mr Clayton Chugumira whose company was exhibiting for the first time said they experienced low business.
