Preparations for the 47th Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF) exhibitions expected to kick off today have reached 98 per cent, Tanzania Trade Development Authority (Tantrade) has said.
"The exhibition received a major rearrangement to reflect its status knowing that it has an international aspect and will attract participants to invest in the country," the TanTrade Director General, Ms Latifa Khamis told 'Daily News' yesterday.
Ms Khamis said the Prime Minister, Kassim Majaliwa is expected to officially open the 47th DITF on July 5, this year.
DG said TanTrade in collaboration with Tanzanian embassies and ambassadors managed to motivate and invite 179 foreign companies to take part in this year's DITF.
Ms Khamis said that it is for the first time China is participating in their own pavilion at the Sabasaba and have come to look for investment partners.
"Shandong, the second most popular and governmental province is participating and we will conduct Business to Business (B2B) to ensure that Chinese businessmen do not leave without sealing trade deals with local counterparts," said Ms Khamis.
DG said more than 179 foreign companies from 19 foreign countries have confirmed to participate at the 47th DITF and more foreign participants are expected to come as TanTrade continues to receive applications.
Elaborating, she added that 1578 local companies as well have already confirmed to participate in the exhibition that carries a slogan 'Tanzania is your right destination for business and investment'.
Ms Khamis said the fair will feature a forum where local and international investors can meet under and exchange business ideas, where the centre is called Saba Saba Expo Village 2023.
DG named the countries participating in this year's DITF are namely China, India, Turkey, Kenya, Rwanda, Singapore, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates (UEA), Burundi and Iran.
Others are Syria, Pakistan, Algeria, Ghana, Malaysia, Uganda, and Japan.
She said that in this year's exhibitions there will be marking days for different countries do B2B with the aim of promoting services and products for each other.
She mentioned that on July 4 there will be a China Day which will involve 150 companies from the Shandong province and July 10th India Day will be led by 27 companies and delegations of 50 people from Hainan, where the Indian Prime Minister will be attending.
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"Tantrade has ensured that the 47th DITF is one of the initiatives that support President Samia Suluhu Hassan efforts to attract more into the country," said Ms Khamis.
The 47th DIFT will be unique as exhibitors are arranged per sectors and in single streets since the fair, aka Saba Saba, for a long time, was not properly arranged as exhibitors were mixed up to trouble visitors for not locating specific pavilions by sector.
Ms Khamis said TanTrade renovated the Kilimanjaro pavilion and upgraded it to an international level and increased the number of foreign company pavilions from two to three.
Moreover, Ms Khamis said Tantrade is on top gear since Tanzania National Road Agency (TANROADS), Dar es Salaam Region renovated and beautified the fair roads.
"We have also drilled three water wells with a combined capacity of 45,000 litres per hour and are connected to both the national grid and a generator to ensure uninterrupted supply around the clock.
"We did a huge renovation like installation of modern security system cameras--Closed Circuit Television (CCTV), improvement of power infrastructure and drilling the water wells," she said adding Tanesco removed old cables and installed new ones to improve the quality of the power supply at the grounds.
Various participants seemed to be in the final touch to complete the preparations, some have already been completed and others still seemed to be doing major repairs.
