Traders from across border attend fair to connect with Indian market

The Governor of Haryana, Jagannath Pahadia, on Wednesday inaugurated the seventeenth Chandigarh Fair organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), which aims to give an entry point to people from across borders to have "trade-friends" in India.

Traders from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Thailand are participating in the fair with most of them having one motive — to make connections in the Indian subcontinent.

One such trader is Gul Ahmed Textile Mills, one of the largest producers of textiles in Pakistan, which has entered the CII Fair for the first time. Talking to Newsline, Huzaifa Essabhai said, "We have a good market of bed sheets, pillow covers and cushion covers etc. However, through this fair, we want to enter the cloth industry". He said that women in Pakistan and India have similar kinds of preferences when it comes to clothes. He added that India has great potential as a market for cloth merchants.

Talking to Newsline, M Khurshid Barlas, the chief executive of the Pak World Trade and Expo Center said, "This fair is a reason for us to come and meet our Indian counterparts. It feels very good to be here. Some traders even get a chance to meet their relatives in India".

Other traders from Pakistan include merchants of marble, Punjabi Juttis, jewellery etc. Another trader, Essa Mohammed of Essa Creations, has visited the fair five times earlier. He brings along with him dry fruits, saffron, Spanish olive oil, and Basmati rice from Peshawar.

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