'ZITF a resounding success'

THE 57th edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair was the best seen in recent years and showcased Zimbabwe's manufacturing, trade and economic potential, ZITF chief executive Nomathemba Ndlovu has said.

Giving evaluation of the five-day trade exhibition, which was attended by a total of 675 exhibitors – among them 16 foreign nations – Mrs Ndlovu said that this year's edition "ticked all the boxes" in terms of the targets.

Mrs Ndlovu said although the country was facing serious problems regarding the manufacturing industry in particular and economy in general, it derived huge benefits from the ZITF, which profiled what it could offer and its needs in terms of investment to turn around the economy.

"The potential is there (to generate business); the fact that we are going through tough times does not mean we have to throw the baby out with the bath water. ZITF is multi-faceted, you can use it to sell your products and you can use it to look for investment in your retooling and in other initiatives. I think that even in the bad times, we still need to market ourselves and show that we have got a presence," Mrs Ndlovu said.

And information made available immediately after the trade showcase indicated that 93 percent of exhibitors to this year's event did a fair to considerable amount of business during the show, which ran from April 26-30 and focused on how Zimbabwe can regenerate its industrial base.

"This year, we took a deliberate focus on industry to bring the focus back to industry. We were looking particularly at the manufacturing sector, wanting to profile our locally made goods to new markets and we are pleased to note that led by the theme buzz words "Innovate, Integrate, Industrialize" exhibitors we invited went all out to put up impressive displays that many have hailed as the best seen in recent times.

"We feel that we made a good start on our strategy to go back to basics so we will be working more closely with the manufacturing sector to use the platform of ZITF to find new markets for locally made goods," she said.

Among the successes this year was the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries manufacturing conference attended by several Government ministers and deputy ministers, captains of industry from Zimbabwe and other countries who shared notes on how to address issues industry faces.

A record 480 delegates attended the annual business conference, which was officially opened by Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was among the business leaders, foreign dignitaries, Government ministers, deputy ministers and officials and representatives from academia and civil society.

President Mugabe and his Togolese counterpart, Mr Faure Essozima Gnassingbe, also graced the annual trade showcase in Zimbabwe's second biggest city and toured several exhibition stands including Alpha Omega Dairy, Tanganda Tea Company, Cairns Holdings and Choppies among others.

This year exhibitors occupied a total of 44 992 square metres, representing 95 percent of available space.

ZITF 2016 recorded 40 percent increase in visitors, with 4 935 attending the trade fair over the first three days compared to 3 000 in 2015.

Foreign visitors were mainly from China, Mozambique, Portugal, South Africa, Uganda, USA, US Virgin Islands and Zanzibar among other places.

From a sample size of 215 visitors, 76 percent of the respondents were heavily involved in the buying activities of their companies, which ranged from advisory to final decision-maker.

"This shows that the show is attracting the right calibre of business visitors with an appropriate influence."

Among the 16 foreign countries at ZITF Botswana, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Russia, South Africa and Zambia had national representation while China, Cyprus, German, Tanzania and United States were represented by individual companies.