The eighth South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Trade fair – 2008 inaugurated this morning at the BMICH, Colombo with the participation of eight SAARC member countries.

The four-day trade fair will feature well over 600 exhibitor organizations from the eight SAARC member countries who will showcase a magnificent range of products & services to a wide cross-section of visitors comprising end users, buyers, trade organizations, policy makers, state officials and academia.

The SAARC region being the largest geo-economic block of the world with a population of 1.2 billion people and a combined average growth of 7% and a customer base of over 425 million people in the middle class bracket is easily the largest economic block of the world.

The principal organizing body for the 8th SAARC Fair, the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL) is hosting the event this year for the second time. FCCISL hosted the SAARC Trade Fair in 1998 for the first time.

The holding of SAARC Trade Fair has become a regular feature since inaugurated in 1996 in New Delhi, India.

The theme of this year's fair is "Regional opportunities for global growth".

"The business community has an important role in making regional integration more meaningful and beneficial to the people of South Asia. This region has very large potential for trade and industry together with vast natural resources and raw material, as well as a tremendous resource of human talent. All this can contribute to successful entrepreneurship leading to economic prosperity, raise standards of living and help eradicate poverty from this region", said President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the incumbent Chairman of the SAARC.