Pakistan holds six-day women entrepreneurs' trade show in Dhaka

Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka on Monday began a six-day long women entrepreneurs' trade show at Bangabandhu International Convention Centre (BICC) in the Bangladesh capital. The trade fair, which will conclude on August 29, has been styled Dosti-Women Entrepreneurs Trade Expo (Dosti-WETEX) 2009, in order to promote women entrepreneur-ship in the South Asian region.
UAE-based Bank Al Falah has sponsored the event. Deputy Leader of the Bangladesh Parliament Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, who is also a close aide of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, inaugurated the trade expo. Pakistan High Commission's Commercial Counsellor Zulfiqar Younas said female entrepreneurs from five countries were taking part in the trade exhibition.
There are a total of 125 stalls and special pavilions in the fair, of which 90 are from Bangladesh, 22 from Pakistan, 12 from India and one from China. "We believe, this fair will provide immense opportunity among the women entrepreneurs of these nations to exchange each others experience and share views and thoughts about the entrepreneur-ship," Younas told reporters.
He informed that Dosti-WETEX was the sixth consecutive exhibition being organised by the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka, since it first began in 2004. The products on sale include ladies fabrics, stitched and embroidered ladies garments, sarees, shoes, gems and jewellery, scarves and handicrafts. The organisers are expecting that about 30,000 visitors from home and abroad will visit the exhibition.
Younas noted that after the fair, the Pakistan government would later sponsor a trip for a number of Bangladeshi female entrepreneurs to Pakistan to participate in a similar exhibition in Lahore. A number of local organisations are partner in the exhibition. They include BRAC, Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka-CCI, MIDAS, SME Foundation, and Women Entrepreneurs Association.