The country’s premier international exhibition and trade promotion event, the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) is set for a comeback this July after a one year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The annual event which traditionally takes place in April had to be cancelled last year as the country entered its first hard lockdown following a spike in COVID-19 infections.
Yesterday, the secretary for Industry and Commerce, Mavis Sibanda, in a letter to the ZITF, advised that government had given green light for the event to take place from 20-23 July this year.
“Please be advised that the President has approved that Zimbabwe International Trade Fair be held during the period 20th to 23rd July 2021,” reads the letter.
The decision to conduct the event in July could have been sustained by renewed optimism from the vaccines against the virus.
In February, ZITF acting General Manager, Nick Ndebele was quoted in the local media stressing that preparations for the event were already taking place since COVID-19 cases were starting to fall although acknowledged that changes to the dates was a huge possibility.
“We remain confident that we will have the show this year; more so, now that globally, discourse around the pandemic has shifted to the solution, which is vaccination of populations.
“His Excellency, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has assured the nation that help is on the horizon,” he said.
However there are concerns over the possibility of a third wave that has already gripped some countries across the globe thanks to the new strains of the virus.
Authorities have not yet furnished details of how this year’s event will be conducted in light of these developments.
