New Delhi: The first ever ‘India International Cooperatives Trade Fair’(IICTF) is going to be held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi from 11th till 13th October, 2019. As 94% of total farmers in India are members of at least one cooperative institution, IICTF is aimed at furthering Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government’s vision and goal of doubling farmers’ income by promoting cooperative-to-cooperative trade within India and abroad and promoting exports of key agriculture commodities and products leading to enhanced rural and farm prosperity. IICTF also offers a huge opportunity for the industry and business houses from India and abroad to build alliances, business networking, product sourcing and above all, interacting with the primary producers of a wide range of products and service providers.
The event has already garnered an overwhelming response both nationally and internationally as more than 120 Indian cooperatives and 20 organizations from Centre / State / UTs and as many as 35 countries from six continents having purchased exhibition booths for participating in IICTF. International organisations from Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bhutan, Brazil, China, Columbia, Fiji, Germany, Iran, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines, Russia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Senegal, Thailand, Tanzania, United States of America, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam will be showcasing the products.
The cooperative sector has a formidable role in increasing agriculture exports from the present US $ 30 billion+ to US$ 60 billion+ by 2022 as envisaged in the Agriculture Exports Policy 2018. IICTF is conceived as a major platform to promote exports of Indian cooperative produce and is packed with exhibitions, B2B/C2C meetings, conferences, cultural programmes etc. IICTF covers exhibitors / sellers / buyers from India and abroad focussing on sectors such as agriculture and its allied sectors’ complete value chains, cold chain, dairy, commodities, exports, technology, climate smart agriculture, processing, packaging, storage, machinery, brand promotion, marketing, cooperative banking, agri-tech and various other sectors. The Fair is expected to evolve a conducive environment for cooperative trade in the global arena, help in expansion and diversification of business, technology transfer, help lay international quality benchmark for cooperative products etc.
The Fair is jointly organised by NCDC in association with the Bangkok based international organization (NEDAC) and leading organizations in India (NAFED, APEDA, ITPO etc.) with the support of Ministries of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Commerce and Industry and External Affairs. Six State Governments/UTs, namely, Telangana, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Puducherry, Meghalaya and Goa are partners of IICTF. IICTF is also supported through partnership with IFFCO, IPL, AMUL, CDB, UPL, FAO, NCUI, LINAC, NAFCUB, NAFSCOB, NCCD etc.