The Director General of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Mrs. Tonia Shoyele, has said that 45 international companies have indicated interest to participate in the 2019 Abuja International trade Fair.
Shoyele said in Abuja on Monday that the foreign companies were expected from India, Bangladesh, Ghana, Mali, Cote d’Voire and Cameroon, among others.
Over the years, she said that the chamber had a minimum of 30 foreign countries participating, but the number had increased in this 13th edition because many embassies had declared interest to participate.
She said that the multi-sectoral trade event had grown exceedingly in scope and strength as one of the biggest trade platforms for international and domestic exhibitors to promote new product lines, access new markets, build business relationships and grasp developing trends.
The 13th trade fair, scheduled to hold from Sept. 21 to Sept. 29, would also feature a roundtable that would focus on the theme: “Remodeling SMEs Financing: Options and Solutions’’.
Describing Nigeria as 80 percent Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) based country, she said it was on this background that the chamber decided to have a 100 percent focus on SMEs.
“Basically our mandate is to promote their businesses and handhold them till they get to the upper level. There will be a roundtable which the CBN, Bank of Industry and others that are SMEs based participate to form policies and strategies to promote the SMEs,’’ she said.
She said that the chamber had also put in place measures to provide adequate security personnel which include the Nigerian Police, Army, Anti Bomb Squad, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), among others.
Dr. Johnson Anele, the ACCI Vice president in charge of Commerce and Chairman, Abuja Trade Centre, said that the fair would equally feature trade and investment profile presentations, exhibitions business matchmaking sessions and products/services presentation.
Anele, who is also the Chairman, Organising Committee of the event, said that the trade fair would boost local content by encouraging growth of indigenous companies and patronage of made-in-Nigeria goods.
MM/GIK/APA