The fifth edition of Expo – Industria concluded last Saturday, with the Imex group emerging as the big winner of the event, which took place between March 29th and April 1st in the Luanda-Bengo Special Economic Zone (ZEE).
The penultimate day of the event was marked by the awarding of prizes to exhibitors. The Imex Group won the "Best Participation Expo – Industry 2023" award in a ceremony where the organization also recognized Fabrimetal and Fazenda 27 in the categories of "Best Participation in Production Goods" and "Consumer Goods," respectively.
According to Angop, the list of winners also includes Beladeaar (extractive industry category), ICC (best processing company category), while the "Food industry" category was won by Grup Carrinho and the categories of civil construction, Banking, Insurance and Financial Institutions and "Best Provincial Participation" were won by Karam, Grupo Salam and Huambo, respectively.
Expo Industria received at least 9,500 visitors, according to Manuel Novais, commercial administrator of the Arena Events Group, who clarified that the numbers refer to invitations distributed and tickets sold.
Quoted by Angop, the official also stated that 650 direct and indirect jobs were generated during the event, and also highlighted that more than 238 companies participated.
"It was an important event, as the people who came were looking for partners and to meet their needs. Trade fairs also create a parallel economy, which is the number of temporary jobs," he said, quoted by Angop.
Those participating in this edition rated their presence as positive. This was the case for Mario Simão, representative of the detergent company Nice South Atlantico, Lda, who, in statements to Angop, considered the participation as "super positive," given the contact between exhibitors and visitors.
"The interaction has been good; being our second participation, we are having many contacts with clients," he said, as quoted by Angop.
The same view was shared by the deputy commercial director of SLN – FCCB, SA, Kolbe Sampaio, who gave a “super” positive assessment. “Expo-Industria has further galvanized and highlighted other national industries,” he added, as quoted by Angop.
“The group showcased our national industry, with everything we've produced, in addition to raffia bags, as well as the packaging bag factory, mattresses, and paints,” said Sara Joaquim, trade marketing director of the Imex Group, who, quoted by Angop, added, “It's the first time we've won the grand prize at the expo. The outcome is positive. We made an investment to increase our production.”
In terms of expectations for next year, Ivan Prado, Secretary of State for Industry, said he anticipates around 500 companies will participate in the event and also foresees greater representation from the food sector at Expo-Industry 2024, given that the Government is focused on food self-sufficiency, Angop reports.
The President of the Republic inaugurated this year's edition of the event, where the sectors of civil construction (22 percent), commerce and distribution (12 percent), textiles (11 percent), and restaurants (11 percent), among others, stood out.
