Entrepreneurs at an ongoing trade fair in Huye District have vowed to take advantage of the marketing opportunity presented by the expo.

The exhibition, which opened on Monday, drew mostly businesses operating in the Southern Province.

The event, at the Institute of the National Museums in Huye, will close on November 30.

It was organised by the Private Sector Federation (PSF) in partnership with the district, provincial leadership and other partners, including Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Rwanda Public Private Dialogue, and Germany Development Corporation (GIZ).

Etienne Ndayisenga, a worker at Dynapharm, a company retailing food supplements and fertilisers, said the exhibition is a perfect platform to market local products.

"We sensitise farmers in the framework of increasing productivity. People know that we have organic fertilisers which are both productive and safe; and enhance their yields,” he said.

Juvenal Senyana, from Musha Sector of Gisagara District, is exhibiting mats he makes from sacks and threads, trays from banana barks.

He said he is talking to as many people as possible about their business.

Jean Bosco Bigirimana, the PSF president in the Southern Province, said the exhibition would foster competition and winning exhibitors will be awarded.

Exhibitors include industries, telecommunication and ICT companies, artists, livestock and crop farmers, and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) schools.

Some of the exhibitors are from Kenya, Tanzania, and India.

The trade fair attracted about 100 exhibitors.

Antoine Manzi Rutayisire, the director of capacity building entrepreneurship are PSF, said exhibitions are one of the ways the federation finds both internal and external market.

PSF organises annual international exhibitions but before the exhibition and identifies businesses in districts which can showcase at the national level.

The idea of organising exhibitions at the district level started in 2001 with an aim to find ways to develop private sector activities.

Jeanne Izabiriza, the Southern Province executive secretary, urged exhibitors to take advantage of exhibitions and learn from each other.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw