Mega expo centre opens in Dhaka

The government yesterday opened the country's first and biggest multipurpose trade exhibition centre at Purbachal in Dhaka aiming to hold fairs and business-to-business matchmaking events for facilitating domestic and international trade, and thereby, advance the economy. 

The "Bangabandhu Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Centre" project was taken up by Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) at a cost of Tk 817 crore.

Sitting on over 26 acres, the two-storied centre has 33,000 square metres of floor space. Of it, 24,370 square metres are meant to be used for exhibitions while there were 800 booths for displaying products, said the EPB at the inauguration.

The EPB said it had 7,912 square metres of parking space apart from an open space that could accommodate 1,000 cars.

From now the annual monthlong Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF) is expected to be held at the newly built centre, said Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh.

"We will hold the DITF every year and it will take place from January next year," he said.

The first dedicated exhibition venue comes into being after nearly two and a half decades of the EPB using an empty space in the capital's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar to organise the DITF. It is beside prime commuting arteries, for which massive traffic congestion arises every year when the fair is organised in January, drawing in visitors in their droves alongside numerous vehicles.

For this, there had been a long-pending demand of the city's dweller for shifting the venue to a place where traffic can continue moving freely while visitors are entering and exiting.

The government finally took the initiative in 2015 and China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd started constructing the centre in October 2017.

The EPB said the new centre was more spacious compared to the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar spot.

It said of the Tk 1,300 crore construction cost, the Chinese government provided nearly Tk 526 crore as grant. There are some construction works pending which will be completed gradually, said the EPB data.

The EPB said the centre also has a multifunctional hall room with a seating capacity for 473 people alongside a 50-seat conference room. There are also six negotiation rooms, a large cafeteria, an open space for children's play and other required amenities.

"It has been a long pending demand of businesses for a permanent venue for showing 'Made in Bangladesh' goods throughout the year. It will now be possible," said Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi.

He said the government has given out Tk 1.87 lakh crore through stimulus packages during the pandemic to keeping the economy and business rolling.

Last fiscal year, the total earnings from export amounted to nearly $45.50 billion and the target for this fiscal year, including merchandise and services sectors, has been set at $51 billion.

"We are hopeful that we will achieve the export target at the end of the year," Munshi also said. This will be a business hub for the businesspeople as they will be able to use this centre, he said.

The minister said the bilateral relationship with China would further improve due to the installation of the new exhibition centre.

Li Jiming, the Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh, said the construction of the centre was successfully completed despite the impacts of the pandemic. The centre will further improve not only exports but also socio-economic conditions of Bangladesh, he said.