18th September, 2015
The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry Limited (ABUCCI) says more than 200 exhibitors have registered to participate in Abuja international trade fair, holding from Sept. 18 to Oct. 2.
The space allocation Manager and Site Engineer of ABUCCI, Mr Tony Amehor, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.
NAN reports that several exhibitors are making final arrangements at their various stands at the fair ground.
The fair which has its theme as ‘Entrepreneurship as a Panacea for Economic Growth’, is designed to create a coherent and comprehensive business network.
It is also designed to be a centre for business information where local and international products will be showcased.
Amehor said that over 200 exhibitors, consisting of local and international exhibitors with different lines of business interests, had shown interest in the fair.
“We have people from different countries represented here, people from Europe, Asia, Africa, they are all here to showcase their products,“ he said.
According to him, preliminary activities have commenced and many exhibitors are still being expected as the registration of intending exhibitors is on-going.
Amehor said ABUCCI had introduced innovations in the 2015 fair to improve on past achievements.
He said that the management of the chamber was adhering to a pre-designed floor allocation plan to ensure orderliness at the fair ground.
“We have drawn this layout and we are following strictly the plan so that we do not allow exhibitors to go beyond their allotted spaces,’’ he said.
Amehor said the plan was to ensure the smooth operation of sectoral arrangements of products at the fair.
He said the management of ABUCCI had made adequate arrangements for the safety of participants and their products.
“We have the various security agencies represented here, the Department of State Security Services and the Nigerian Police, the military, they are here to ensure the success of the fair.“
He said sub-letting and sale of stands had been eradicated.
“This time, we had pre-briefing and told them that sub-letting is a crime and offence.
“We actually made them to sign that they will abide by the rules and regulation of the chamber by not selling the allotted stand,’’ he said.
Amehor said the chamber had made provision for sanitary facilities for the public and expressed optimism that the fair would be unique given the level of preparations made.
Mrs Suban Mosalawa, an exhibitor, said she was satisfied with the arrangement made so far and expressed hope that the changes introduced would boost economic activities at the fair.
“The expectation is high, because there is a new arrangement, change is taking place at the trade fair.
“The way they arranged us is different from the previous years. I am expecting a high patronage at the fair.
“Because it is sallah break (holiday), we expect people to come and pick up what they want at a very reasonable rate,“ she said.
She called on the chamber to improve its publicity network for the fair.