Mother of all SME fairs in February

To enhance the competitiveness of the small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs), the Indian Industries Association (IIA) "" an apex body of micro, small and medium industries "" is gearing up to organise the biggest industrial trade fair of Uttar Pradesh, in Lucknow.

The fair, organised by IIA, along with the Department of Food Processing and Industrial Development, Government of Uttar Pradesh, is scheduled from 1st to 4th February next year.

"The trade fair will act as a showcase for current trends in the industry and equipment, where new business, concepts and prototypes are shown and discussed with visitors," DS Verma, executive director, IIA told Business Standard.

The main objective of the event is to exhibit whatever agro-products are made in the state and outside, along with emphasis on displaying the technologies, machinery, products and services produced within and outside the country.

"The success of the event can be marked from the fact that last year about four exhibitors booked orders for the full year," informed Verma. The overall bookings that the event saw were approximately worth Rs 30 crore, last year.

The fair will include 400 participants, as against 250 last year. Out of which, about 50 stalls are already registered, of which half the share goes to exhibitors from outside the state.

Over the years, this fair has acquired the status of an international trade fair. In 2006-2007, foreign delegations from Pakistan, Angola, the UK, Mexico, Israel etc. visited the event and booked substantial orders.

For the first time the overall management and media planning for the event has been outsourced to ExhiCon Outsource, a professional event management company of India, while ground management will be the responsibility of Team Pinnacle Venue Constructs, a Mumbai-based company. Both the expositions are already listed on 13 popular websites.