China showing interest in Jaffna trade fair

Trade links the entire world and during war-time, the Northern Province was separated from the rest of the country but is now largely linked to the rest of the world - thanks due to the annual 3-day, Jaffna International Trade Fair.

K. Poornachandran, former Chairman, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Yalpanam (CCIY) at the launch of the Jaffna International Trade Fair 2019 held on Wednesday at Hotel Ramada, Colombo, said that this fair would be held on January 25-27 and also for the 10th time. 

He said that hard on the heels of the war this trade fair was inaugurated and faced tremendous difficulties. When it was started there were only about 40 stalls but today there will be more than 350 stalls with most of the stalls run by the Colombo-based companies, international trade delegates and with Indian and West Asian-stalls, and for the first time China is also showing interest.

When the stall holders, other delegates and representatives were gathering in Jaffna for the early trade fairs one of the big problems was providing accommodation for them to stay for three days and during the early exhibition time these guests had to be accommodated in their homes.

Mr. Poornachandran indicated that today there are more than 40 new hotels in Jaffna with another 15 hotels are coming up including some 5-star properties. During the exhibition time all these hotels are full.

He said that it is the single annual event that draws a massive number of visitors, more than 65,000, and during the three days at least 20,000 of them make some sort of purchase. During the course of this annual exhibition the progress has been unprecedented, he pointed out as the entire peninsula is awakened for three days of the year.

The success, he said is partly due to the wide coverage that the media has been providing and accordingly paid tribute to the work of the media.  

This trade fair is now identified as ‘The Gateway to the North’ and it would be the meeting hotspot for traders and businesses both local and international, the one-stop shop for businesses in the rapidly developing Northern peninsula.  

It is organized and managed by Lanka Exhibition and Conference Services (Pvt) Ltd (LECS) in association with CCIY with the support of the Jaffna Municipal Council, the Sri Lanka Convention Bureau and the International Business Council. (QP)