The 8th Made in Pakistan Exhibition kicked off at the World Trade Centre in Kathmandu on Wednesday. The exhibition will run till next Tuesday. The expo was inaugurated by Commerce Minister Min Bahadur Bishwakarma.

Made in Pakistan Expo is being organised by the Rawalpindi Chambers of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with a number of Pakistani businessmen, who are exhibiting their products.

Pakistani products like furniture, leather items, handicrafts, textile products, artificial jewellery and other products are for sale at the exhibition. More than 50 businessmen from Pakistan are also taking part in the trade fair, reads a press release.

The exhibition is being held at a time when Nepal and Pakistan have completed 55 years of trade partnership, according to Commerce Minister Bishwakarma. “This has strengthened relations between people of the two nations,” the minister told the inaugural session of the exhibition.Chief Secretary Rajendra Kishore Chettri, Pakistani Ambassador to Nepal Mazhar Javed and Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, Amjad Hussain B Sial, were also present on the inaugural session of the exhibition.

“The event will greatly help in introducing Pakistani products to Nepali consumers,” says the statement. “It will also provide a platform for interaction between the businesspersons of the two nations. The expo will also help to increase the volume of trade between Nepal and Pakistan.”
Organisers are expecting around 60,000 to 70,000 visitors to attend the expo, which is held every year.

Vistor numbers have been increasing every year and last year around 70,000 people visited the expo, said Khalid (who uses single name) of the press section of the Embassy of Pakistan in Kathmandu.

“The expo is not only a trade fair; it a trade fair which [strengthens] people-to-people relations,” said Mazhar Javed, ambassador of Pakistan to Nepal.

The exhibition is being held at a time when Dashain, the biggest festival of Hindus in Nepal, is just around the corner. The exhibition has provided Nepalis a platform to purchase goods for the 15-day festival, which is celebrated by buying new clothes and feasting on meat.Pakistani fabric, leather, furniture and spices are some of the products available at the exhibition that are attracting visitors according to Khalid.