The month-long 22nd Dhaka International Trade Fair or DITF starts today at the city's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar to showcase the products of companies from home and abroad.

The companies will display their goods and services at 580 stalls and pavilions, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said at a press conference at the venue yesterday. Of the total stalls and pavilions, 48 have been allocated for companies from 20 foreign nations.

The first DITF was held in 1995.

Besides Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Malaysia, Iran, Thailand, the US, Turkey, Singapore, Australia, Britain, South Korea, Mauritius, Nepal, Japan, Bhutan, the UAE, Bahrain, Vietnam and Hong Kong are participating in the fair.

The fair will remain open from 10am to 10pm. The entry fee for the adults has been fixed at Tk 30 and Tk 20 for minors per visitor. Car parking, healthcare, traffic control rooms, mother and child care rooms, water reservoir, mosque, fire service station and blood collection centre will be set up at the venue.

The participating companies in the DITF received export orders worth Tk 235.17 crore last year and this year the amount will go up, the minister said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the fair and hand over the export trophies to the winners for fiscal 2013-14 at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

A total of 66 trophies will be awarded to the exporters: gold trophies will go to 29, silvers to 22 and bronze trophies to 15 companies for their extraordinary export performance in fiscal 2013-14.

The recipients have been selected for the trophies following the national export trophy guideline of 2013.