The biggest trade and business expositions of the region, IGTF ’06 lived up to its slogan - ‘Connecting Guwahati globally’.

North East News Agency

The 13th International Guwahati Trade Fair (IGTF ’06) has shown that today mere buying and selling doesn’t constitute shopping. Shopping has become a form of entertainment. IGTF’s success lies in realizing this fact in totality. There was no dearth of entertainment at the biggest trade and business expositions of the region this year. Apart from international participants and the best of corporate world out with their products to spoil the people for choice, rock bands, dance performances, sports and excellent cuisine amongst other things were regular feature at IGTF ’06.

IGTF ’06 lived up to its slogan – ‘Connecting Guwahati globally’. Apart from Thailand, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Turkey and Iran, Egypt, Malaysia and Bhutan were the three debutant countries in IGTF ’06. Thailand was the partner country with 27 companies making it their second biggest participation in any trade exposition in the country after IITF in New Delhi.

It can be easily said that the Thai pavilion was indeed the centre of all attraction in IGTF ’06. Not only were the items – a vast array of artificial flowers, jewelery, handicrafts, glassware, home and fashion accessories, garments, cosmetics and aromatics – attractive and colourful but the way of display and the created ambiance of the pavilion was a delight in itself. Dotruedee Loyrasadorn, trade officer in the Department of Export Promotion (Ministry of Commerce) Government of Thailand and Tharadwl Thongruang, counselor at the office of Commercial Affairs, Royal Thai Embassy, New Delhi, were both present at the 13th IGTF. They were very upbeat seeing the fantastic response. “Guwahati being the gateway to the North-East should be the starting point for building ties with Thailand. Retail is not our end in this participation. We want to establish strong and far reaching trade ties with North-East India. Our government is keen to set up joint venture projects in the North-East to explore the market. To carry forward this plan, the Thailand Government is willing to provide training to NE traders for setting up of these units. We have very close relations with this region and therefore our government would extend all possible help to the traders,” said Mr. Thongruang. He also informed that the Thai Embassy is holding a discussion with New Delhi to restart direct flights between Guwahati and Bangkok.

A team from Malaysia came to Guwahati not only to participate in IGTF ’06 but also to explore further business possibilities between North-East and Malaysia. A counter was set up within the fair to answer queries from the visitors about business possibilities between the region and Malaysia. IGTF can be really excited for making an all out effort to promote NE region in general and Guwahati city in particular, as the gateway for trade and commercial link between India and the South Asian countries.

Egypt, with their famed leather products and Bhutan with quality wooden furniture also draw good crowd. Glass and crystal items glistened in Turkey pavilion and mesmerized the crowd with their sheer beauty and brilliance. The magic stone or the magic eye was also a very popular item at the Turkey pavilion. One of the participants from Turkey explained what actually the magic stone is: - The little magic stone that protects one from evil eye is a typical item, a specialty of this region.

Bangladesh deputy high commissioner Md. Imran himself visited IGTF ’06. He stressed the need for business chambers from North-East and Bangladesh to interact more frequently to help border trade. He also said that there is need to introduce a direct air service between Dhaka and Guwahati. 25 top companies from Bangladesh participated in IGTF ’06. Famous jamdani, muslin sarees, melamine products and the food items were again the main attraction from Bangladesh in the 13th IGTF. The Bangladesh participation in IGTF was organized by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) of that country. Top officials of the EPB were also present at IGTF ’06 going beyond direct selling, more fruitful opportunities were opened this year. Following a meeting with a business group from Meghalaya at the fair, Bangladesh has also shown keen interest to expand its commercial link and network more strongly in to Meghalaya. Thailand has also shown similar interest and is contemplating to appoint distributors in Meghalaya with an aim to boost trade prospects of Thai products. But the Bangla delegation is still unhappy over the high custom rate demanded at the border from the participants for participating in IGTF. The traders demanded that participation in IGTF should be custom free. The delegation from Bangladesh entered and moved out to/from IGTF through Dawki border in Meghalaya. The traders also complain that getting visas was previously a lot easier but it has become a more complicated and time consuming process now. They want these bottlenecks to be removed for better trade ties between North-East and Bangladesh.

A fur-member rock group from Australia called Aurora Jane enthralled the appreciative audience at the IGTF ’06. The group is so interested in the region that it will shortly release an album named Seven Sisters. The lyrics will be based on folk tales of some remote villages of the North-East region.

A seven-member biking team from Manipur called Ultimate Riders of Horizon presently making waves in the sports circuit, performed breath stopping acrobatics and stunts on BMX bikes, skate boards and in-line skates, previously viewed only on AXN channels.

So IGTF ’06 will also be remembered for Guwahati’s first brush with extreme sports.

Keeping the children in mind, some of the historic comic strip heroes from the comic world were brought to life at the fair. Paying tribute to legendry Indian film Sholay, mouth watering dishes were served in the ambiance of historic scenes and battleground music from the classic film.

Last but not the least, National Small Industries Corporation Ltd, Development Commissioner and National Centre for Jute Diversification, with more than 150 entrepreneurs from across the country created an ideal platform for entrepreneurs to display indigenous products in IGTF ’06.

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