The MSME International Trade Fair, which concluded in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 7: The second edition of the Odisha MSME International Trade Fair that ended today gave many young entrepreneurs ample opportunities to learn the tricks of the trade.

The seminars and the visiting dignitaries helped the young guns clarify their doubts and gave a boost to their plans of starting new ventures. The weeklong fair was jointly organised by the MSME department, the state government and National Small Industries Corporation Limited.

The inaugural seminar dealt with issues concerning the food-processing sector. On the next day, a workshop on “Investment opportunity in tourism sector” was held. Many students of the city’s hotel management institutes came to hear the keynote speakers.

“The tourism sector is the only sector which loses nothing but gains everything. The tourism sector gains foreign exchange services, creates employment and establishes global brotherhood without much investment,” said the president of Hotels and Restaurants of Odisha J.K. Mohanty encouraging the students.

“My father runs a grocery shop but I want to start an indigenous coffee cafe chain. I got answers for many of my queries and thus would now be able to convince my father,” said Samaresh Hota, a 19-year-old participant. On the fourth day of the fair, experts deliberated on export opportunities for micro, small and medium enterprises.

On Sunday, a delegation of traders from European countries expressed keen interest in sourcing leaf plates and plant containers from Odisha. Quite impressed with the potential in Odisha for export of these products, Hana Meiners, representative of a plant container manufacturer company based in Germany, said that the state could become a major exporter of the eco-friendly plates.

On the same day, a seminar titled “National manufacturing policy and buyer-seller meet and ancillary development” was held.

The last seminar of the festival took place on Monday and it focused on corporate social responsibility activities and the development of information and communications technology.