A five-day trade expo has organised a mega trade show between April 20-24 aligned with Bengal Global Business Summit – 2022 in which 22 countries will participate directly or indirectly, the apex trade body of eastern India said on Monday.

Confederation of West Bengal Trade Associations (CWBTA), the apex trade body of eastern India representing 70 associations and over 1.5 million small and big traders, said the Bengal Global Trade Expo – 2022 is its first such initiative to cover almost all aspects related to promotion of regional trade.

It involves West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam and the north eastern states as well as countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar and Thailand.

“Besides our immediate neighbouring countries, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, People’s Republic of Korea and others – about 25 countries in all are participating directly or indirectly in the Expo. We are confident that this Expo will be a catalyst in promoting trade in eastern India in the days ahead,” CWBTA president, Sushil Poddar said.

The regional trade in eastern India is full of growth potential and can double it over the next few years with free trade agreements with BIMSTEC countries which are expected to be signed soon, he said.

This is the first time that the business community, traders, government bodies, chambers of commerce have come together at the Bengal Global Trade Expo – 2022 to facilitate the ease of doing business. Various departments of the West Bengal government will have pavilions for on spot registration of MSMEs, CWBTA advisor and summit chairman, N K Kapadia said.

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Kolkata Municipal Corporation will set up a facility to resolve disputes, tax payments and address various consumers’ issues. The fire department will also have a similar set up, while AMRI will set up a mini-hospital at the Expo, he said.

The BGTE Expo- 2022 would be held in over 3.75 lac square feet area with 19 hangars, conference facilities and dedicated pavilions for government bodies and institutions, top companies, trade bodies, manufacturers, traders, financial institutions and so on.

The trade expo will cover sectors, including electric vehicles and allied products, industrial hardware, electronics, solar, food processing, telecom and IT, textiles and garments, chemicals and petrochemicals, leather and footwear, real estate, gems and jewellery, automobiles and auto parts and others, Supertron chairman and managing director V K Bhandari said.