Tuesday, July 26, 2011

'2nd Made in Pakistan' Expo concludes

A week-long ´2nd Made in Pakistan´ expo which started on July 19 at Direction Exhibition and Convention Center (DECC) in United World Trade Center concluded on Monday.

The fair has been successful in meeting its objective of introducing Pakistani products to Nepali customers and providing a forum for interaction between the businessmen of the two countries.

Ahmed Barlas, member of the organising committee and proprietor of MAB exports, manufacturer and exporter of wooden handicrafts, said the expo received a good response from the visitors. So, the expo will visit the city every year, he promises.

Barlas informed Republica that in the ´3rd Made in Pakistan´ expo next year, corporate stalls, spices, power plants, batteries and UPS, among others, will be introduced.

Pakistani products ranging from wooden furniture, textile products, ladies´ dresses, leather bags, belts and footwear, jewelry, cosmetics, gemstones, handicrafts made of onyx, wood and brass, to kitchenware and melamine products and even dry fruits were available at the expo. “Among all the products available at the expo, ladies slippers, gems and jewelries, textiles and furniture were the major show stoppers,” said Barlas.

Barlas is planning to open an exclusive showroom of Pakistani wooden handicraft products like sofa set, beds, tables among others that would be the first ever showroom in Nepal for ´Made in Pakistan´ products.

The expo in which more than 80 businessmen from Pakistan participated was able to receive 20,000 footfalls which is double compared to the first expo. According to the organizers, the transaction during the fair has increased 10 to 15 percent compared to last expo.

“Even though we are forced to tag high prices because of other additional charges, we are happy that w got a very good response from the visitors,” said Saria Bano Dastgir, event manager of Aya International. She further added that her company is looking to start up a business in Nepal soon.

Like Dagstir, most of the traders took the expo as a platform to expand their business. “As there are huge numbers of cricket fans in Nepal, we have talked with Cricket Association of Nepal and a number of sports shops like Bhadrakali Sports Center and will soon be expanding our business in Nepal,” said Tanvir Akhtar, marketing manager of A K Traders.

Traders at the fair were very happy at the positive response from the visitors and said that this kind of expo should be organised frequently as it helps them explore market feasibility and enhance trade volume, which is very low at present, between the two countries.

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