Trade fairs - what's the right way to run them?

(Baonghean)A trade fair, or trade exhibition, is a commercial promotion activity conducted in a specific time and location where businesses display and introduce goods and services with the aim of promoting and seeking opportunities to conclude contracts for the sale of goods and services.

In late December 2012 and early January 2013, coinciding with the 2013 New Year's Day, the Nghe An Provincial International Trade Fair took place in Vinh City. Hearing the name alone, many were eager to see for themselves what the "international" nature of the fair truly meant. However, upon arrival, many were disappointed.

The first disappointment was right from the parking situation. When I went in to ask the price, the parking attendant quoted 5,000 VND per vehicle, but when I came to pick up my car, I had to pay 10,000 VND per vehicle. People were being blatantly ripped off.

The decorations outside the fairgrounds led many to mistakenly believe it was a music stage. Large, colorful banners displaying images and schedules of singers overshadowed even the fair's advertising banners. Evening tickets were four times more expensive than daytime tickets, likely because the organizers included a fee for the concert, even though by 9 PM, some people had already left and the singers were nowhere to be seen. Many people were unaware of their "right" to watch the concert when they bought evening tickets, as their primary purpose was to see the merchandise and buy goods.



International Trade Fair, December 2012. Photo: My Ha

Many people's disappointment turned into surprise when they entered the fair and saw countless stalls selling heavily discounted goods with no clear origin. Experienced housewives noted that some of the clothing items at the fair had been sold on the street just days before. Was this fair, supposedly an "international" event, merely offering low-quality goods of Chinese origin? In some places, vendors spread tarpaulins on the ground to sell warm down jackets for only 200,000-400,000 VND each. On one side were heavily discounted clothes, on the other were super-cheap aluminumware items: 100,000 VND for four pots, 100,000 VND for three trays... At the leather goods section, vendors displayed gleaming leather pieces along with wallets and belts; just by looking at them and touching them, many people shook their heads without even bothering to ask the price. At the stalls displaying local specialties from areas like Ky Son, Que Phong, and Quy Chau, customers only see a few items haphazardly displayed, and the product presenters are busy chatting amongst themselves. The stalls are not arranged scientifically, causing people to get lost and still not be able to see all the goods.

Perhaps when granting permits for trade fairs, authorities should thoroughly inspect the organization, manage parking fees, select businesses, and specifically assess the goods on display, so that the "trade fair" is a commercial exhibition and not synonymous with a "market".

Tran Thi Thanh Ha (Provincial Party Committee's Mass Mobilization Department)