DITF eyes local business only

The recently concluded 14th Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF-2009), organised by the Ministry of Commerce and the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), needs to take some urgent steps.
The month-long fair was expected to garner a good number of business deals, according to the organisers of the event.
EPB website says a total of 467 exhibitors from 22 countries like India, Pakistan, USA, Japan, Germany and Thailand showcased their products in the fair. Was it really an international trade fair? The scenario was just the opposite. Every year, only a few countries participate in the fair. Our so-called EPB has failed to welcome more countries to participate.
The commerce ministry and EPB could easily welcome traders and firms from African countries and South American countries. For the last 14 years, we have not seen any country from Africa and South American that took part in the exhibition.
We also saw that Bangladeshi business people owned most stalls and yet we name it the 'International Trade Fair.' I think we could rather change the name to “Dhaka Local Trade Fair”.
I strongly believe that in order to maximise our country's exports, we must invite more countries from different continents to the fair. Only then we will get good feedback from abroad.