Chronicle Editor
The 57th edition of the famous Zimbabwe International Trade Fair roars into life in Bulawayo today with expectations high that it could present a turnkey opportunity to the shoots of economic recovery.
Being yet another international exhibition, it suits the bill for Zimbabwe, which is yearning for opportunities to grow its sluggish export performance. The event is also a good opportunity for local businesses to meet and interact among themselves on how they can grow their markets, share notes on challenges or increase productivity in order to bring to end to over-reliance on imports.
Togolese president Faure Essozima Gnassibe will officially open this year’s edition of annual trade showcase on Friday. From an update given by ZITF general manager Nomathemba Ndlovu, it is heartening that bookings by exhibitors show palpable and continued interest in doing business with or in Zimbabwe despite challenges facing the economy.
Mrs Ndlovu indicated that at 45 863 square metres of booked exhibition space, the ZITF company has managed to fill up, at this point and counting, 96 percent of the available space.
In fact, interest in the showcase event is growing with 404 direct exhibitors this year from 387 last year confirming their plans to participate at the mega event. A total of 19 countries will be represented this year.
As such, this year’s exhibition presents once again ample opportunity and platform for the country to show what is has to offer in terms of opportunities abundant in the many sectors including mining, tourism, manufacturing and agriculture.
This year’s event is being held when the country’s manufacturing industry is still struggling with capacity utilisation and focus should therefore be on how local and international exhibitors can partner to spur productivity.
Increasing industrial productivity of existing businesses and creating avenues through which business can trade within and across borders and nurturing relationships for fresh investment could be part of the solutions to Zimbabwe’s problems.
Zimbabwe is facing debilitating challenges related to liquidity. As the country uses a basket of currencies, the local business community should grab this once in a year chance to establish networks and strike deals that will generate the much needed export revenue for Zimbabwe.
Events such as trade fairs, conferences, business events, economic forums and exhibitions are sophisticated platforms for conducting business on national and international scale.
They should be regarded as more than just marketing tools as the entire marketplace is at fingertips, as they provide market information to fulfil business needs in a centralised way.
ZITF provides an excellent opportunity to assess opinions from clients and determine market potential, conduct research and evaluate competition, develop commercial structures by identifying new agents and distributors and initiating joint ventures and project partnerships.
Often, one of the problems around conducting trade pertains to failure or inability to grow existing markets or cultivate new ones, which could explain partly why local firms, despite their financial constraints, cannot increase production.
In fact, in tough market and economic conditions as is Zimbabwe’s case, it becomes imperative for all businesses to show greater visibility, strong fundamentals and continuation of businesses. The platform is ideal for exhibitors to nurture the trust and confidence across the supply chain.
Such a business approach to participating at ZITF will generate the kind of momentum Zimbabwe needs to achieve sustainable export led economic and present an effective tool to stem the chronic problem of liquidity crisis.
Zimbabwe also receives a lot of negative publicity about its socio-economic and political situation, too far removed from the reality on the ground and this international convergence platform presents that rare opportunity to tell the rest of the world that the country is read to do business.
If our business leaders cannot operate in an environment of mild adversity then they don’t deserve to be called such. Where there is no challenge everybody and anybody can be the leader.
We want business leaders who want to succeed, not those given to perpetual moaning about the political situation or purported country risk. There are worse places where businesses still thrive.
We hope our business leaders will use ZITF in a productive way in their interaction with visitors.
Online Reporter