ZITF looks east

Nhlanhla Masuku told a press conference that the organisation was intensifying marketing efforts using the country’s embassies in the Far East and Asian countries with the hope of restoring the country’s premier trade exhibition to its past glory. Masuku said: “We have also used our networks to engage companies in India, Iran and China … We are diversifying with the emphasis on the Far East and Asia. Most of these companies are in the country and we feel it is an opportunity for us to engage them. “With the enhanced marketing strategies, we hope to reverse the decline of recent years. We work through the embassies in those countries.” The ZITF has in recent years been facing a steady decline of exhibitors due to the poor performance of the Zimbabwean economy. Foreign countries, especially those from the West and Europe have also snubbed the exhibition due to frosty political relations with the government. This year the fair was, according to critics, a resemblance of a flea market exhibition due to the number of cross border traders that participated in the annual event. However, Masuku said: “Those saying that the fair was a flea market exhibition are failing to understand the structure of the Zimbabwean economy which is now largely indigenous.” – CAJ News