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Dhaka: Finally, the International Trade Fair will be held at the permanent fair center named Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Center. To do this, on December 31, the permanent center of the fair will be handed over to the Export Promotion Office (EPB).
Meanwhile, for the past few years, the Ministry of Commerce has been talking about moving the fair to Purbachal.
The government has decided that the Dhaka International Fair will be held in the eastern part of the capital from 2021. To this end, on December 31, the permanent center of the fair was handed over to a Chinese construction company. On the occasion of the centenary of Bangabandhu’s birth in 2021, the 26th Dhaka International Fair will be held there permanently.
EPB Director General Mahbubur Rahman told banglanews that construction work for a permanent trade fair called the Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Center has been completed on 20 acres of land in the suburban area of Purbachal. The Chinese construction company will hand over to EPB on December 31.
He said that although the fair was organized primarily for business and commerce, it became a gathering of people from all walks of life. The residents of the capital have been waiting for this fair for years. Until now, the fair was held temporarily in Agargaon in the capital on a small scale. Realizing the need for a permanent venue due to insufficient space, the government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina decided to build a large-scale center in Purbachal. To survive in the competitive world of business, the need for this fair to produce new products according to the needs of buyers and to display them properly is immense.
According to those interested, if the project is implemented, it will be a permanent center for the organization of specialized fairs in the country. At the same time, the image of the country abroad will be bright. The construction of this center will increase the ‘industrial competitiveness’ of local products. The commercial and institutional environment will be improved. This will increase the country’s investment. In addition, economic development will be strengthened.
According to EPB sources, the EPB wanted 36 acres of government land to hold a permanent trade fair in Purbachal. Of this, only 26 acres of land have been delivered. Another 12 acres of land will be delivered soon. Construction work on the exhibition center has been completed on 20 sites. An administrative building with a warehouse, power plant, permanent food center and residential facilities for participants is being constructed on 6 acres of land.
At the closing ceremony of the International Trade Fair at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital on February 3 last year, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said: “A fair complex is being established there to carry the Fair. Dhaka International Trade from Agargaon to Purbachal permanently. The Prime Minister told us that the 2021 Dhaka International Trade Fair will be held at its own complex in Purbachal. That is the new place. There will be a little problem at first. But we will take all the necessary measures so that people can go there. An international standards center has been created there. We will do our best to change next year.
According to the Export Development Office, the construction of the center was carried out in Purbachal at a cost of around Tk 697 crore. But the 3-year deadline for the project has passed and half the work has not been completed. The duration and cost of the new project are increased. The expense increased to Tk 160 crore. This initiative taken in 2009 took 12 years to implement.
According to sources, the construction cost was estimated at Tk 625.60 crore from Chinese grants and Tk 160.31 crore from government funds. Later actually, the acquisition of 15 additional acres of land, the construction of new facilities, the expansion of the range of the center, the necessary arrangements for maintenance, including various reasons, increased by 160 crore 8 lakh and the total expenditure was estimated at 1,303 crore 50 lakh. It is also proposed to extend the deadline until December 2020.
Bangladesh time: 1851 hours, December 13, 2020
GCG / AAT
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