China to bankroll permanent exhibition centre at Purbachal

The government is set to build a permanent exhibition centre on 20 acres of land at Purbachal, with China financing 79 percent of the cost.

The project will cost Tk 796 crore, the proposal for which will be placed by the planning ministry at today's meeting of the Executive Committee of National Economic Council.

Once the project is complete, the annual trade fair will shift to that site from its present temporary venue at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar near Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

China will provide Tk 626 crore as grant, and the venue will be named Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Centre.

The exhibition centre will be set up in the sector 4 of Purbachal on its Roopganj side, with construction scheduled to be complete by 2018.

A firm approved by the Chinese government will construct the exhibition centre and hand it over to Bangladesh government, according to an official from the planning ministry.

The Beijing Institute of Architectural Design has already prepared a design for the centre: there will be 806 booths of nine square metres each in two big hall rooms.

There will also be a conference room, press centre, meeting room and business information centre, as well as parking space for 1,500 cars. On the first floor, there will be a maternity corner and crèche.

When the permanent exhibition centre is set up, manufacturers and exporters can showcase their products all the year round, according to the proposal. The local companies will get more ideas from the visiting foreign buyers.

The Dhaka International Trade Fair is held in January every year, with participation from local and foreign companies.

This year, 14 countries, including India, Pakistan, China, Malaysia, Thailand, the US, Singapore, Australia, the UK, the UAE and Germany, participated in the fair.