Alvine Kapitako
WINDHOEK – The Opuwo annual trade fair penciled in for next Monday to Friday is intended to market the town as an investment destination.
The mayor of Opuwo, Albert Tjiuma, says over 80 percent of the exhibitors to this year’s trade fair are from other regions.
There are also seven exhibitors from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Zambia, said Tjiuma. Corporates, SMEs, government ministries and tertiary institutions are amongst exhibitors at this year’s trade fair.
“The Opuwo annual trade fair is an initiative of the town council to give an opportunity to our people to have business connections with people from outside and we want to market Opuwo to potential investors,” said Tjiuma.
The theme for this year’s trade fair is ‘Creating opportunities through business connections.’
“The people of Opuwo can learn from other exhibitors who will come from other towns and countries,” added Tjiuma.
There are 130 exhibitors and this will be the sixth annual trade fair. Tjiuma also reflected on the challenges experienced over the years and how this year’s trade fair will be different from the others.
“The main problem is we don’t have proper infrastructure to host the trade fair so we host it at the Newman Katuta sports field. As a result, we have to fork out a lot of money for tents and to make the environment conducive for the trade fair. We can’t stop because we see how beneficial the trade fair is to the people of Opuwo,” he noted.
Fortunately, some companies have come on board and are paying for some of the logistics, said the mayor. A business survey conducted at the town showed that people are benefiting from the trade fair, according to the mayor.
“We found that during the time of the trade fair business make a lot of money compared to any other times of the year,” he said.