Chennai: “The second edition of Vibrant Tamilnadu expo will be even bigger than the 2018 version, with around Rs 300 crore worth memorandum of understandings (MoUs) expected to be signed, almost double than the year before,” said chairman of the expo, K Thirupathirajan.
He said this while speaking to News Today at an event held here on Tuesday to promote the expo set to happen between 12-15 August at Madurai. In the previous edition, MoUs worth Rs 172 crore were signed, he said.
Organised by the Tamilnadu Chamber Foundation in association with various chambers in the State, the food and kitchen equipments expo will bring together stakeholders from “farm to fork” viz. farmers, food processors, manufacturers, traders, exporters and importers Ā both domestic and international Ā and consumers to a platform to harness the export opportunity in Tamilnadu for their foray into national and international markets.
Heaping praise on GST, Thirupathirajan said, ‘It took away the barriers between the State. Now, food from our State can go to northern States. With this expo we aim to create more opportunity.
The organisers are firm in their belief that the expo will help exporters and farmers in Tamilnadu reach out to global players, emulating the success story of Vibrant Gujarat.
More than 15,000 delegates are expected to take part in four-day the event, said the chairman. “We are conducting roadshows at 24 countries and will be reaching out to more than 60 countries worldwide. With more than 250 stalls to be set up, the expo will also witness participants from other States take part,” he said.
Seven different types of stalls are available for firms to grab, with emphasis given to startups as well, state the organisers.
“The idea is to make this an annual event. The reason for choosing Madurai is that the city is accessible to small industries in the State, unlike Chennai. In the future, we might bring the event or an edition of it to Chennai,” said Thirupathirajan.