One-third of the stalls, pavilions are not yet ready

Staff reporter :
The Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF) – 2023 kicked off on Sunday. But about one-third of the fair’s stalls and pavilions are incomplete and yet to display and selling their products.
On Monday, such a picture can be seen by visiting the fair. Especially outside the main premises of the fair, the Bangabandhu Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Center (BBCFEC), most of the stalls are still under preparation. It will take a few more days to complete their preparations.
Apart from this, the work of the stalls of several government departments including the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection, Digital Information Center is still going on.
Besides, the construction work of the restaurants outside the main gate of the fair has not been completed.
Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, Secretary of the Export Development Bureau (EPB) and Director of the trade fair, said that all preparations have already been completed to organize a lively fair. Somewhere there is a struggle with the decoration work. But all the main work has been completed.
This 27th edition of the DITF has featured some 351 local and foreign stalls, pavilions and mini pavilions, up from the previous year’s tally of 225.
It was seen that most of the foreign stalls could not display their products. Stalls of different countries including India, Thailand, Iran, and Turkey are still
unprepared. Most of them are still not selling their products.
Meanwhile, the visitors are disappointed as the preparations are not completed within the allocated period.
Moniruzzaman, a student who came to the fair from Segunbagicha, said, ”I don’t understand why the work continues even after the opening of the fair. There is no restaurant to eat. Participants should have prepared their stalls within the schedule time.”
The fair will remain open every day from 10:00 am to 9:00 pm while it will remain open till 10:00 pm in holidays. The entry fee for the adults have been fixed at Tk 40 while that of the minors at Tk 20.
There will be scope for availing 50 per cent discount if anyone buys tickets online. Besides, there will be vehicle parking facility for some 1,000 cars.