The 39th edition of the India International Trade Fair 2019 (IITF-2019) was held from November 14-27, 2019. It was inaugurated by the Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Micro Small and Medium Enterprises(MSME) Shri Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi. The fair was organised by the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO).
Partner & focus country: The partner country for the trade fair was Afghanistan. The focus country was Republic of Korea. The focus states of the fair were Bihar and Jharkhand.
Theme: The theme for the year 2019 is “Ease of Doing Business”. The theme was inspired from India’s rise in the ease of doing business rank for the year 2019. In 2019 it was ranked at 63rd position from 142nd rank in 2014.
Key Points:
i.MSME contribute up to 29% of India’s exports and has generated over 1 crore employment.
ii.Participants: Participants from various countries like Australia, UK, Iran, Bhutan, China, Indonesia, Turkey, and Vietnam attended the fair.
iii.Members present: Minister of State for Commerce & Industry Shri Som Parkash and other officials were present in the event.
Minister of Minority Affairs inaugurated “Hunar Haat”:
Union Minister of Minority Affairs(MoMA) Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi established “Hunar Haat”. Organised by the minority affairs ministry, Hunar Haat” acts as a hub to encourage and promote traditional master artisans and craftsmen from across the country.
All the “Hunar Haat”, to be organised in 2019 and 2020 will be based on the theme “Ek Bharat Shresth Bharat”. Next “Hunar Haat” will be organised at Mumbai, Maharashtra from 20th to 31st December, 2019.
Key Points:
i.Naqvi established “Hunar Hubs” in every state of the country, where artisans, craftsmen will be trained in the next 5 years in mastering craftworks. 100 “Hunar Hubs” were sanctioned during the first 100 days of the govt under Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
ii.Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Shri Kiren Rijiju; Secretary Minority Affairs Ministry Shri Pramod Kumar Das and other senior officials were also present on the occasion.
iii.Wooden Dhokra Craft (Jharkhand), Shibori (Gujarat), Dhakai Silk (West Bengal) and Black Metal Art (Chhattisgarh) etc were exhibited in the trade fair.
Rural Development ministry inaugurated SARAS at IITF 2019
The Union Minister for Rural Development(MoRD), Panchayati Raj and Agriculture Shri Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated the SARAS IITF Mela 2019 at PragatiMaidan, New Delhi. The Minister of State for Rural Development Shri Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti also participated as special guest at the event.
Key Points:
i.SARAS (Sale of Articles of Rural Artisans Society) mela would empower women from the Self Help Group(SHG) to earn independently and provide a better social status.
Nitin Gadkari Inaugurates Khadi Pavilion at IITF:
Shri Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the Khadi Pavilion at the IITF. Chairman of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena and Secretary of MSME Dr. Arun Kumar Panda were present in the event.
Key Points:
i.Various initiatives to promote Khadi crafts like promotion of pottery at railway stations, ban on import of agarbattis, ban on import of National Flag etc have been undertaken.
ii.Live demos of Charkha, electric potter wheel, agarbatti making and other technological interventions for showcasing ‘éase of doing business’ in the Khadi activities were arranged.
About Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises(MSME):
Founded- 2007.
Headquarters- New Delhi.
Minister of State(MoS)– Pratap Chandra Sarangi.
About Khadi and Village Industries Commission(KVIC):
Founded- 1956.
Headquarters- Mumbai, Maharashtra.
