A five-day International Rawal Expo 2019 has been scheduled for April 17 in Rawalpindi.
Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) President, Malik Shahid Saleem, announced the plans on Wednesday while noting that all arrangements in this regard are being finalised at the moment.
While addressing a press conference here, he asserted that a federal minister would be invited as the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony to be held at Ayub Park on April 17.
RCCI President said that Rawal EXPO 2019 aimed to increase business activities and promote Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) along with providing entertainment to the masses. He added that Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) claimed that SMEs constituted nearly 90 per cent of all enterprises in Pakistan; employed 80 per cent of the non-agricultural labour force while their share in the annual GDP stood at round 40 per cent.
The Rawal Expo 2019 was, therefore, said to provide a great platform to the SMEs to get exposure at the international level.
A business to business (B2B) conference would also be held on the sidelines of the Expo. “We are expecting multi memorandum of understandings between local and foreign companies during the five-day expo,” he added.
More than 50 international companies, including China, Thailand, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Nepal and Malaysia would display their products in the expo.
More than 250 stalls would be installed, covering a wide range of businesses, including food, SMEs, garments, grocery and electronics. RCCI would make all-out efforts to make it a business-cum-family event, the RCCI president said, while adding that it was an opportunity for the traders to get exposure and display their products and services for potential customers.
“There will be 250 stalls and important thing is that this time we will be having a separate pavilion for Chinese companies,” he maintained Business events and expos are the business cum social events that hold power to create more opportunities for businesses in B2B manner, he further added.
Such opportunities were said to provide direct interaction with potential customers; creating more opportunities for collaboration and business growth.
Rawal Expo Chairman, Nasir Mirza, informed that round 350,000 footprints had been recorded last year while the committee was expecting over 500,000 citizens at the expo this year. More than 50 companies from China will be participating in the event.
“We have confirmation from Indonesia, Malaysia, Central Asian Republics, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan etc. who will display their products in the expo,” he added. Group leader, SohailAltaf; Vice President, Fayyaz Qureshi; former president; a member of the executive committee and a large number of traders were also present on the occasion.