The 38th TRNC International Fair was opened on Friday evening with a ceremony attended by the acting President and Speaker of the House Sibel Siber as well as other state and government officials.
More than 100 companies are taking part in this year’s fair at Atatürk Culture Park which will remain open and running until the 15th of June.
Local and imported products will be sold at the fair and there will be social and cultural activities.
Speaking at the opening, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Tourism, Culture and Sports Serdar Denktaş highlighted the importance of standardisation and competitiveness in production.
Stating that his ministry was working on this issue, Denktas announced that an initiative has been launched to switch to alternative energy use in the Lefkoşa Organized Industrial Zone in a bid to lower operational and production costs.
Denktaş also said that work was continuing to establish a national standardisation institute, the Cyprus Turkish Standardisation Institute, which will fill the current certification and lab testing, bringing production up to EU standards.
Also speaking, Prime Minister Özkan Yorgancıoğlu underlined the importance of the fair in preparing the country’s economy for international competition.
Stating that the TRNC’s economy should be capable of competing with the Greek Cypriot economy in the event of a solution, the prime minister said that more work was needed to be done to raise the competitiveness of firms and companies operating in the TRNC.
Sibel Siber for her part expressed the hope that the country’s economy will continue to grow and develop.
“We are close to opening up to the world. The fair gives us confidence,” she said.
After the speech, Siber and her entourage toured the fair grounds.
The fair is open to the public between 7-12 pm weekends and 7-11 pm on weekdays.
