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Felex Share Senior Reporter
Togolese President Mr Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé arrived in the country last night to officially open the 57th edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair in Bulawayo today. The annual event began on Tuesday and ends tomorrow. Mr Gnassingbe was welcomed at the Harare International Airport by President Mugabe, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi, Harare Provincial Affairs Minister Miriam Chikukwa and service chiefs.

He immediately proceeded to State House where President Mugabe hosted a banquet in his honour. The trade fair began on a high note with Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa opening the ZITF international business conference on Wednesday.

The trade fair will be held under the theme: “Innovate, Integrate and Industrialise”. The theme, according to Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha, fits the purpose as it recognises that the only way to grow the Zimbabwean economy is to improve the competitiveness of locally-produced products through industrialising the manufacturing sector.

About 400 exhibitors are participating at this year’s event. Sixteen countries are also taking part in the exhibition with the organisers of the event expressing satisfaction with the quality of products being exhibited.

Among the participating countries at this year’s trade fair are Botswana, China, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Germany, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Poland, Russia and South Africa.

As is the tradition, South Africa has acquired the biggest exhibition space with 32 companies showcasing an array of products at the national stand. Ghana and Russia are taking part after a long absence.

The two countries have brought business delegations from Ghana Investment Promotion Centre and Tatarstan Export Corporation of Russia respectively. An analysis of the local exhibitor composition shows that 25 percent of the exhibitors are manufacturers, 13 percent are in the distribution while 41 percent are service providing organisations.

Other sector specific expos running concurrently with the ZITF 2016 are A’sambeni Africa Business Tourism Expo, Scholastica, Ultim8 Home and Pakprint.