Story by Sifiso Sibanda, Assistant News Editor
THE 2023 edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) got underway this Tuesday with hopes high that exhibitors will clinch lucrative deals and secure export contracts.
As the country’s premier business exhibition, the ZITF kicked off in Bulawayo this Tuesday, it has emerged that some small and medium-scale entrepreneurs have already secured export deals and are set to expand, thanks to the country’s export promotion body ZimTrade, which has been working round the clock on its outward seller missions.
With several exhibitors part of the ZITF, ZimTrade targets to facilitate more business deals and secure export orders.
“We have among us small and medium businesses that are now exporting their products and we are helping them to expand their market so they are coming to ZITF confirms that the new target for local companies is the export orders and this we are confident we will get,” said ZIMTRADE Director Operations, Ms Similo Nkala.
The other highlight of this year’s fair is the livestock section where farmers are showcasing quality animals as part of the national strategy to boost the national herd.
In the crop section, precision agriculture is the new national trust with a number of options in irrigation technology which farmers are fast adopting.
“Our focus at this year’s ZITF is to demonstrate precision agriculture where we are demonstrating that the available water bodies can be put to good use through irrigation technologies that are efficient in water usage and we are happy that farmers are fast adopting these,” said the director of business development, markets and trade in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Mr Richard Kaitano.
The Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services has brought together several media houses, which are key in promoting a positive image of the country as a viable investment destination.
“We have brought with us other players in the media industry so that they can showcase their products as a way of raising their visibility we are also in the process of capturing Vision 2030 of leaving no one and no place behind,” said Permanent Secretary Mr Nick Mangwana.
This year’s trade showcase has a huge contingent of foreign exhibitors, confirming that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s engagement and re-engagement drive is bearing fruit.
