Bulawayo firms’ trade showcasing impressing: ZITF chairman

OUT of 576 exhibitors who have confirmed participation at this year’s Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF), 27 percent are Bulawayo companies from different sectors, ZITF chairman Mr Busisa Moyo has said.

The annual trade showcase starts tomorrow and runs until Saturday, with the first three days reserved for business exchanges and Friday and Saturday will be open to the public.

Running under the theme, “Innovation: The Catalyst to Industrialisation and Trade,” the fair will be officially opened by Kenyan President, Dr William Ruto on Friday.

ZITF provides a unique space for networking, knowledge exchange and forging partnerships.

In a media briefing on Friday at the Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre (ZIEC), Mr Moyo said the number of Bulawayo companies exhibiting at this year’s edition is exceptional considering that this event is an international trade showcasing.

“27 percent of the companies that are exhibiting this year are from Bulawayo, which is statistically significant in terms of presence for a trade showcase that is regional.

“We kindly commend Bulawayo companies for taking part in this trade showcase.

Last year, 21 percent of the 565 exhibitors were companies from Bulawayo and Mr Moyo said the company would like to see the figure growing.

Mr Moyo said this year’s event is oversubscribed with more visitors in total as compared to last year’s show which had 565 exhibitors.

He also said six more countries will be exhibiting this year to make it 27 from 21 countries last year.

“We have 136 new exhibitors that are coming for the first time. This is a sign of confidence and of value that exhibitors both local in Bulawayo, local to Zimbabwe and the region are seeing in the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair.

“We are looking forward to welcoming everybody tomorrow when we start our trade showcase,” he said.

To promote health and hygiene during the trade fair, the ZITF chairman said the company has refurbished its ablution facilities.

Meanwhile, Mr Moyo said in a bid to foster sustainability and encourage healthier mobility options, ZITF will implement top-tier changes this year, including higher parking charges and exclusive shuttle services.

These initiatives aim to discourage visitors from using their cars to reduce carbon emissions as the company goes green.

This initiative starts with a clean-up campaign which will be held along Samuel Parirenyatwa Street, the main route that leads to the ZIEC.

“We encourage fellow citizens in Bulawayo to clean other streets because our guests will not be confined to that street.

“The other area that we are going to exercise that greening initiative is to discourage single-use plastics, we will be having water points in the halls and meeting areas and where single-use plastics have been used, we will have areas where they can be disposed of safely because after ZITF each year we see a huge number of plastics that we have to clean up and obviously that will be going to the environment,” he said.

“As the years go by, we will totally ban the use of single-use plastic, we will encourage people to bring containers and we are encouraging exhibitors as well in terms of handouts to give away bottles that can be used because you can collect water from water points.”

The ZITF Company has been given a mandate to lead the national branding efforts for Zimbabwe while promoting investment and economic growth.

Several high-profile meetings including the Diplomats Forum and Africa Connect Symposium will be held on the sidelines of the ZITF.

The main activities at the 2024 ZITF will comprise the ZITF Welcome Cocktail; the ZITF International Business Conference on April 24, which will be officially opened by Vice President Constantino Chiwenga; the ZITF Charity Golf Challenge, ZITF Diplomats Forum, Connect Africa Symposium and the Tourism Night, which will be held on April 25. ―chronicle