ENUGU – The Director General, Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA), Mr Emeka Okereke has said  that the shift in the date of the general elections was a set-back to the forthcoming Enugu International Trade Fair.
He told newsmen in Enugu, that the adjustment in the initial date of the fair due to the shift in the date of the general elections had inconvenienced prospective participants.
“The trade fair was to hold between March 27 and April 6 but the shift in the date of the general elections, made us to bring it forward,” he said
The DG said that the fair would now hold between March 13 and 23.
According to him, two foreign partners, one from Italy and the other from Germany who had earlier declared their interest to participate, are now uncertain of attending the fair due to the shift.
“They had earlier booked their flights within the first date which the event was programmed to hold.
“This is a big problem for us but we have to find a way, as a chamber, to facilitate their participation.
“If it pleases God that we sustain the participation of some of our foreign partners by getting them adjust to the new date, that will be fine,” he said.
Okereke said that local participants were also not finding the adjustment easy as they had all focused on the initial date.
“But this is not our first fair, so we will device means to get them key into the new date. We have done all we could do,” he said.
He said that apart from the challenges arising from the change in date, the chamber had made all necessary arrangements to ensure a successful outing.