International buyers from the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, New Zealand, France, Saudi Arabia, UK, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Fiji, Philippines, Myanmar, Netherlands, etc. had registered for the virtual events.
First Virtual Trade Fair (VTF) organised by APEDA to boost the export potential of India’s agricultural and processed food products during the COVID-19 pandemic drew a huge response from participants, exporters and buyers from countries including India, UAE, Brazil, New Zealand and France.
The VTF organised during March 10-12, 2021 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.
The buyers from around the globe showed distributed interest in a variety of product categories displayed during VTF. The fair with the theme ‘India Rice and Agro Commodity’, focussed on showcasing the export potential of various agricultural commodities. Importers as well as exporters were key participants of the VTF. For each day during VTF, the potential buyers or importers and visitors keenly explored a wide range of food products presented by the exporters.
All the exhibitor stalls looked attractive and integrated well with the event’s theme. All the stalls had their product catalogues, product lists and a short video of their company. Indian and international buyers from the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, New Zealand, France, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Fiji, Philippines, Qatar, Sudan, Myanmar, Netherlands, and Peru had registered for the virtual events. The promotion of VTF was also generated with the support of Indian Embassies abroad. An aggressive social media campaign for the promotion of VTF was initiated.
Because of COVID-19 related restrictions on physical travel and trade, APEDA has initiated the concept of VTF for sustaining India’s agricultural and processed food products exports and also exploring new markets for expanding export footprints.
In the pre-COVID-19 era, trade fairs and exhibitions have been instrumental in promoting the 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.
