When the coronavirus pandemic hit Bangladesh last year, it upended many socio-economic activities. One victim was the Dhaka International Trade Fair 2021. Organisers are worried about whether the fair can return in 2022, given the state of the pandemic.

The fair is scheduled to be held at the Bangladesh China Friendship Exhibition Centre in Purbachal in January next year, but the exhibition largely depends on the pandemic situation, said the Export Promotion Bureau, which organises the event.

The fair was pushed to March 2021, when the nation celebrated the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the golden jubilee of its independence. It was suspended again due to the second wave of coronavirus cases caused by the Delta variant.