Exhibitors must be ready for 9th Int. Trade Fair

Accra, Aug. 15, GNA - Ms Esther Dzifa Ofori, Chief Executive of The Ghana Trade Fair Company Limited, on Friday urged those who would be exhibitors at the next year's trade fair to be fully prepared to transact business successfully.

She said they should come to the fair with adequate documentation on their products and sufficient complementary cards.

Ms Ofori was speaking at a press conference to update the media about preparations to ensure the success of the 9th International Trade Fair scheduled for February 26 to March 10 next year.

Registration for participation in the fair would start next week, she said, and asked all interested parties to ensure that they go through the necessary procedures to avoid disappointment.

She said most exhibitors were unwilling to spend money especially on advertisement and called on the media to educate manufacturers to advertise in their papers or on their stations to sell their goods.

"Trade fair is mainly for making contacts and it is incumbent on all exhibitors to prepare well before they come to the fair grounds" she said.

The fair that has the theme: "Charting New Frontiers for Trade Partnership and Investment" is to open up new areas for trade investment and promote Ghana's trade and investment opportunities.

She said the major problem the Trade Fair Company was facing was power supply that would greatly affect it if not put in good shape explaining that the International Trade Fair Centre was designed to have power to last for 25 years but that it had gone beyond 41 years and needed to be improved.

Ms Ofori said the company was receiving support from the EDIF fund to rehabilitate the power supply system.

She said no major infrastructure changes would be undertaken adding that the company had already started the renovation works to rehabilitate the existing infrastructure to host the fair.

Ms Ofori said the fair would place emphasis on the exhibition of top of the range made in Ghana goods most of which would be exhibited at the prime area of Pavilion A.

Mr David Larbi, Chairman of the Marketing, Publicity and Protocol Committee of the company, said a series of press conferences would be organised to educate the public on the benefits of trade fairs especially to the economy and industries.

He said 500 trade-related agencies had already been invited adding that India had booked for 500 square meters of space to exhibit her products. 15 Aug. 03