Work on site, planning meetings and other logistical arrangements for the much-awaited business bonanza are going on.
The launch of the International Exhibition for Enterprises, Small and Medium-size Enterprises and Partnerships, Promote 2011, approaches with the intensification of preparatory activities in Yaounde. The grounds of the Yaounde Conference Centre have been transformed into a beehive of workers building exhibition infrastructure, mounting canopies and installing decorative equipment, amongst others. Several exhibitors have started sending teams to mount logistics and equipment needed to attract as many exhibitors as possible when the event kicks off on December 3.
According to the Minister of Commerce, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, the financing of the first phase of renovation works on the grounds by government illustrates the latter’s resolve to transform the site into a Conference and Exhibition Centre. “The rehabilitation of the site which started on July 1, 2011with the construction of new platforms will enable the hosting of 300 new exhibitors and new countries that have indicated their participation in PROMOTE 2011,” said Minister Mbarga Atangana in a recent release.
Beating the participation rate of the last edition that held in 2008 is the wish of the organiser, Inter-progress International Foundation. In 2008, the exhibition ground covered a total surface area of 14,953 square metres. It accommodated 5,000 permanent hostesses, stewards and animators who were in charge of receiving and welcoming 111,687 visitors who attended Promote 2008. According to PROMOTE 2011’s Operations Manager, Jean Louis Palla, this year’s edition will have more exhibitors especially as some big corporations in a show of citizenship will be sponsoring the participation of a multitude of small and medium-size enterprises, SMEs, at the event that ends on December 11.
The SMEs will be the focus of attention. The numerous debates and round tables to be organised will throw insight into ways of enabling SMEs play their role as vectors of economic prosperity and employment as they provide 62 per cent of permanent jobs and 69 per cent of temporary jobs in the private sector.
The PROMOTE concept, organisers say, has also gained international recognition. Edition after edition, the business bonanza plays a key role in projecting a better visibility of the Cameroonian destination in the eyes of national and foreign investors. In this regard, the hallways of the Conference centre have been arranged with comfortable seats to enable meetings and networking between promoters of SMEs and potential investors in view of establishing fruitful partnerships and, if possible, joint ventures. Inter-Progress officials could be seen holding planning meetings with key actors from government and institutions such as the Agency for Investment Promotion, amongst others.
