Brief Introduction
The 3rd International Business Conference and Exhibition was held at the Expo Center Lahore, from 9:00 am and 6 pm on October 24-25, 2018 at Hall-1. The purpose of this exhibition was to bring together national and international stakeholders for joint ventures and mutual investment opportunities and to bring together national and international dignitaries to share their ideas on the economic development of Pakistan. Invitations were mailed to over 2000 local businessmen, government officials, universities, and chambers of commerce and industries. In addition, Press conferences were held at the Lahore Press club, 2 newspaper ads, were given and a month-long social media campaign was launched. City branding on main locations of Lahore was also arranged to publicize the event among the Lahore residents. The Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT), Urban Unit and BOI in particular and the Administration within the Punjab Government in general extended their cooperation in holding the event. Before launching the event, a press conference was also held at the Lahore Press club. The corporate sectors stakeholders worked hand-in-hand with the UMT to make this event purposeful. There were three types of sponsorships including platinum, gold and silver. Major sponsors of the event included MIA, REAP, Model Steels and Profine. The main countries from where the speakers were present at the event were mainly from United Kingdom, Portugal, India, USA and Iran.
The exhibition segment was comprised nearly 106 stalls by 40 exhibitors from the sectors of energy, building construction and home appliances. Businesses represented in the exhibition. A B2B meeting segment was organized where the Chinese and other foreign businessmen held substantive meetings with their Pakistani counterparts.
The event was launched at an inauguration ceremony organized on October 24, 2018 by Mian Mahmood ur Rashid the Honorable Punjab Minister of Housing and works. Other distinguished guests were Rahmatullah javed Secretary LCCI, Ghulam Sarwar Sindhu President IPP, Dr. Tahir Masood MD Nespak, and Col. Tariq Khattak Chairman REAP.
Event was continued for two days in which more than 15,000 visitors visited to the expo and 500 participants attended the conference sessions. The closing ceremony was held on October 25, 2018 in which Dr Sheikh Abdo Bin Muhammad Ibrahim Ateen, Director General, Muslim World League, Makkah, graced the closing ceremony as a chief guest. The occasion was also graced by the presence of Ibrahim Hasan Murad, President, ILM Trust, Abid H K Shirwani, DG UMT and Chief Organizer IBCE, Dr Muhammad Aslam, Rector UMT, Dr M Yusuf Awan, Dean SAP, Muhammad Aslam Mughal, Senior Town Planner, and Syed Irshad Ali Burney, Dean, Art and Design, Superior University.