Coronavirus puts int’l expos on hold

About seven large-scale international expositions and corporate conferences to be held in Bangladesh have been postponed following the coronavirus outbreak in China, denying organisers and other vested parties from about Tk 250 crore in revenue from the events.

Chinese companies are major participants at the exhibitions in Bangladesh.

And given the coronavirus pandemic in their home country they have withdrawn their participation, said Meherun (Kanka) N. Islam, president and group managing director at CEMS-Global, a professional multinational exhibition organiser.

More than 34,800 people have been infected with the new coronavirus worldwide, the vast majority in China.

And the number of coronavirus deaths has overtaken that of the Sars epidemic in 2003. In 2003, 774 people were killed by Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in more than two dozen countries.

CEMS was compelled to postpone three of their international exhibitions to be held between February and April due to the novel virus.

"I will not get even $ 3 million in revenue from these exhibitions. The exhibition is directly related to hotel and tourism businesses. So, the industry will feel an impact," Islam said.

By impact, she is referring to a fall in revenue.

One such event that has been postponed is the Bangladesh Plastic, Packaging and Printing Industrial Fair 2020, which was scheduled to take place between February 12 and 15 at the International Convention City Bashundhara (ICCB).

Its organiser, the Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA), previously announced that the event would be postponed citing the World Health Organisation's declaration of the coronavirus epidemic as a global emergency.

The BPGMEA also said that many international and local exhibitors wanted to the fair to be postponed as public gatherings could spread the virus.

This was one of the five international expositions that the ICCB, a popular venue for trade fairs for its 7 lakh square feet space, was scheduled to host during the February-April period.

However, all five bookings were cancelled due to the spread of coronavirus, costing the venue at least Tk 20 crore in revenue, MM Jashim Uddin, chief operating officer of ICCB, told The Daily Star yesterday.

"This is the ICCB's peak season for hosting expos."

A major source of revenue for the ICCB are the various expositions held by different business groups during this time of the year.

Even events that were not yet finalised have been cancelled.

"We are now staring at a big hole in our revenue," Uddin added.

Like the BPGMEA, the Bangladesh Textiles Mills Association (BTMA) put off the 17th Dhaka International Textile and Garments Machinery Exhibition (DTG) 2020, which was originally scheduled to be held between February 20 and 23 at the ICCB.

Coronavirus has now become a serious health hazard worldwide, the BTMA said in its notice.

As far as the BTMA is concerned, all countries have taken steps to prevent the spread of coronavirus, keeping their respective nation's best interests in mind, and Bangladesh is no exception.

Although the BTMA and Yorkers Trade and marketing Services Co. decided to postpone the DTG, they have resolved to hold the exhibition in June at the same venue.

Syed Abdul Muakhir, catering director of the Bangbandhu International Conference Centre, said the venue escaped the immediate fallout of the coronavirus as there were no bookings made for international exhibitions but just domestic fairs.