Three-day virtual trade fair by APEDA focussing on horticultural products commences

New Delhi, May 28 (KNN) In a bid to boost export potential of India’s agricultural and processed food products during the COVID-19 pandemic, a three-day virtual trade fair focusing on horticultural produce commenced on Thursday.

This is the second virtual trade fair, organised by the government's agri-export promotion body APEDA, that has more than 471 exhibitors or exporters and about 543 number of visitors/importers have registered their participation.        

''The three days VTF (May 27-29, 2021) display India’s unique fruits, vegetables and floricultural products sourced from various regions for the global importers,'' an official statement from the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said.

Visitors from India, Singapore, the US, Australia, UK, Nigeria, Bahrain, Israel, Suriname, Afghanistan, Japan, Iceland, Maldives and Brunei have already participated in the virtual trade fair, it added.      

Earlier, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export (APEDA) organized the first VTF during March 10-12, 2021 which drew more than 404 visitors. There were 313 exhibitors registered for the mega virtual event where 128 stalls were set up to showcase products from the categories - basmati rice, non-basmati rice, millets, wheat, maize, groundnut and coarse grains.

Because of COVID-19 related restrictions on physical travel and trade, APEDA has initiated the concept of the virtual trade fair for sustaining India's agricultural and processed food products exports and also exploring new markets for expanding export footprints, the statement added.

In the pre-COVID-19 era, trade fairs and exhibitions have been instrumental in promoting export of agricultural foods by APEDA. In the VTF, the trade facilitations take place using interactive technology.

At VTF, the exporters and importer meetings were held with no interruption via audio as well as video sessions. The fair provided the facility workshops, product launches, live streams and webinars. The virtual meet facilitated private meetings as well as personalized meetings.

''The online interactions between exporters and importers and data exchanged during such interaction are secured and could be accessed only by parties concerned,'' the ministry said.

Such virtual events also provide cost effective and productive platforms where the buyers and sellers could negotiate or discuss trade face to face giving a feel of real time exhibitions or fairs.