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Prosper Ndlovu and Oliver Kazunga, Business Reporters
THE country’s biggest annual trade expo, the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF), will be held in July this year for only four days instead of five under tight Covid-19 mitigation protocols after it was suspended last year following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bulawayo would host the exhibition at the usual venue, the Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre, between 20 to 23 July 2021 under the theme, “Showcasing the New Normal for Business & Industry: Realities and Opportunities”.

The hosting of this year’s edition of the ZITF will be unique, coming at a time when the country and the world at large are fighting the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and seeking recovery from its negative impact.

Stakeholders should brace for new features at this year’s expo, which include heightened health and safety protocols, modified venue layouts, more digital and hybrid meeting platforms and an emphasis on numbers management, ZITF Company chairman, Mr Busisa Moyo, said yesterday as he announced the new dates, which have been approved by the Presidency.

“The ZITF Company board and management wishes to advise all stakeholders that His Excellency President ED Mnangagwa, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe has approved the hosting the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair from 20th to 23rd July 2021.

“The ZITF Company wishes to officially inform its various stakeholders of the new dates as we all start the preparations for the multi-sectoral event. We are grateful to our parent ministry, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce for working tirelessly in this regard,” said Mr Moyo.

He said this year’s theme locates the ZITF at the centre of multi-stakeholder engagement in forging innovative and sustainable business models, economic and trade re-engagement as well as translating new opportunities in a rapidly unfolding context to ensure business continuity.

The thrust ties closely with Government efforts to building concentric resilience of organisations and value chains from further disruptive consequences of the pandemic.

“ZITF 2021 presents an ideal platform for stakeholders to converge and rebuild businesses while navigating the contours of the new normal, which has become largely buttressed by technology,” said Mr Moyo.

He said the new challenge was also to keep abreast with new regional and global developments.

“As preparations for the exhibition step up, the ZITF Company wishes to assure its various stakeholders of its commitment to ensuring that all reasonable steps are taken to promote and maintain safe and healthy conditions for participants. ”

Last year’s event was set for April 21 to 25 under the theme: “Augmenting Trade and Investment towards a Shared Economic Vision”. By the time of cancellation, the ZITF Company had sold 94 percent of its exhibition space with seven countries, Belarus, Botswana, Japan,

Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Tanzania having confirmed participation.

In December 2020, the trade fair company sought guidance from the Government to defer payments made for 2020’s exhibition space by businesses to this year.

Mr Moyo said as show organisers they will be working closely with local and national health authorities to format the show in a manner that complies with health and safety regulations and provides reduced Covid-19 exposure risk. The pandemic has left many countries throughout the globe reeling from business closures owing to lockdowns, depressed demand and all-round devastation across economic sectors.

“Over the course of the next few days and weeks, our teams will be in touch with exhibitors, buyers and other key stakeholders with information on the show’s operational guidelines,” he added.

With the planned voluntary mass vaccination for Bulawayo province and other parts of the country, Mr Moyo said the ZITF Company was hopeful that sufficiently high numbers will have been vaccinated to achieve some level of herd immunity in time for the show.

He commended exhibitors, service providers and various stakeholders for their forbearance during the lockdown period, which heavily disrupted the meetings incentives and exhibitions industry.

“It is only through the support of industry partners such as our exhibitors and service providers that we will emerge more resilient and offer our events as primary agents for ‘post-pandemic’ economic recovery and renewal,” said Mr Moyo.

The return of the ZITF has excited the business community, which benefits more from the platform in terms of widening market base.

Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce national deputy president, Mr Godwin Muoni, applauded the Government and the ZITF Company for setting event dates in July and considering Covid-19 risks.

“Obviously, the trade fair is very critical for this economy as it gives us an evaluation to see how far we are in terms of showcasing what we have achieved in a calendar year,” he said.

“It’s a good idea to have it after an assessment of the Covid-19 cases in the country and as ZNCC, we are ready for it because the coronavirus came to disrupt everything but we cannot stop and we need to keep on fighting until we get things right.

“We are encouraging our members to participate and showcase what they have and are doing,” said Mr Muoni.

He said ZNCC was lining up conferences around this year’s trade fair and hoped to build business linkages around the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which is the world’s largest single market.

The ZITF is also Zimbabwe’s biggest business annual conference and traditionally draws thousands of local and foreign delegates thereby bringing wider business benefits.