Food, agro expo March 27

The fourth edition of the four-day Food & Agro Bangladesh Inter-national Expo 2019 begins in the capital's International Convention City Bashundhara on March 27 showcasing innovative food and agriculture products and services of 132 exhibitors, 40 percent of whom are from 10 countries.

The entities focus on food, beverage, agriculture, horticulture, poultry, livestock, fishing and aquaculture and related packaging, processing, machinery and equipment.

There will be 150 booths of Bangladesh, India, China, Thailand, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Palestine, and the United Arab Emirates, said Meherun N Islam, president and group managing director of CEMS Bangladesh, yesterday.

Islam was addressing a press conference at Economic Reporters' Forum to announce that CEMS Bangladesh would be organising the annual event in association with CEMS Global USA. 

It will be the “perfect platform for manufacturers and suppliers” and “highlight the rapid development in the food industry”, she said.

“Bangladesh can easily penetrate markets such as Palestine and Afghanistan with its food products and services. The government and related chambers can think about it,” she said.

“If we can penetrate non-traditional markets, it will not only cut our reliance on garment items, it will also give us an edge when it comes to bargaining with international buyers because they will see that our export is not dependent only on apparel,” said Islam.

Bangladesh's food exports rose twelvefold in the last five years, according to Islam.

There will also be three concurrent exhibitions at the same venue: 4th Poultry & Livestock Bangladesh International Expo 2019, 4th Agro Chem Bangladesh Expo 2019 and International Printing and Packaging Expo 2019.

The events will be open for all from 10:30am to 8:30pm.

CEMS Bangladesh, in collaboration with BSAFE Foundation, will also organise a seminar on food safety on the second day.