The 2017 Abuja International Trade Fair will today, Thursday, Sept. 21, kick off and end on Oct. 7. The theme of the fair is “Returning Nigeria to the Path of Sufficiency Though Non-Oil Exports’’.
Giving logistics details and arrangements during a press briefing on Wednesday, Director, Membership and Business Development of Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Mrs. Tonia Shoyele, revealed that over 35 foreign companies are being expected at the fair.
She said “There are about 35 countries coming in, the various embassies in Nigeria are sending representatives, they have all obtained their booths, and all the states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will also be present”.
“The innovation is the fact that we now have business-to-business section in this fair, which is the actual selling point in international trade fairs.
“What we have brought to the table which is totally different from what has been ongoing before, is that we want to march companies, we want to march buyers with manufacturers which has never happened before,’’ she said.
According to her, the objective of the fairs was to open business contacts and not serve as a market place, stressing that “the fair will be principally to promote accelerated development of commerce and industry”.
Other objectives listed by Shoyele include “To promote revitalisation and diversification of the Nigerian economy by promoting the nation’s non-oil exports, particularly agro-allied products and mineral resources; and direct attention to the role of private sector in the Nigeria economy and provide access to resource and technology funding”.
