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Oliver Kazunga Acting Business Editor
MORE than 80 percent of the available exhibition space has so far been booked for this year’s Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) with 21 foreign nations having expressed interest, an official said yesterday.Addressing a Press conference in Bulawayo, ZITF Company chairman Bekithemba Nkomo, said the marketing and advertising of the trade showcase was now in full swing.

The 55th edition of the ZITF runs from April 22 to 26 under the theme, “New Ideas to New Heights”.
“Net exhibition space available for sale is about 51,000 square metres including hall space, pavilions and external sites. Market response has been positive, over 80 percent of space has been booked so far and if the trend continues, we expect to sell all the space,” he said, adding that the number of foreign companies that have shown interest compares favourably with last year’s closing total of 16 nations.

He said 11 of these that include Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Italy, Malawi, Mozambique, Poland, South Africa and Zambia had reserved stands. The first three days of the trade showcase have been set aside for business.

“Being the 55th edition, we are reinventing the way we do business with greater emphasis on digitalisation. On-line registration for business visitors is now open in preparation for the online matchmaking programme that will commence a month before the show,” said Nkomo.

He said the exhibition would feature product groups such as machinery and expertise for infrastructure development, manufacturing ideas, processes and equipment for innovation, automation and supplies.

“Current exhibitions include A’sambeni Africa Expo in Hall 3 which has been rebranded to a business tourism expo that will specifically promote the country’s meetings, incentives, conventions and events (Mice) tourism industry. The expo is being jointly marketed with the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority. The ZITF Company will be increasing the number of hosted buyers and these will be specifically Mice buyers drawn from the region,” he said.

He added that the exhibition centre was set to get a facelift as exhibitors in pavilions have started moving in for their preparations on site.
“Some of them are building new pavilions or considerably sprucing up existing ones. More than in the recent past, we expect a greater number of designer stands in the halls as exhibitors seek to differentiate themselves. From the stand building infrastructure we purchased last year, we are able to offer limited walk-on-packages to upgrade the basic nine and 18 square metre stands,” he said.