In this guide
Picture a procurement manager in Singapore clearing a week in February. Two Dhaka exhibitions sit in the same month — one for apparel and textiles, one for publishing — plus a March general trade fair that could justify a longer stay. Nothing is booked yet. The calendar is the first real decision.
Dhaka rewards that kind of sequencing. Ten exhibitions in the supplied records span general trade, apparel, technology, food and beverage, healthcare, publishing, electronics, leather and footwear, and energy, with exhibitor counts ranging from 100 to 1,000. Dates sit between January and October 2026, but the records do not confirm them. Treat every date below as supplied rather than verified, and confirm with each organiser before you commit flights or freight.
This briefing compares the ten events on audience and sector, then covers the practical side of a Dhaka visit: exhibiting versus visiting, pre-show outreach, freight and venue rules, and how to use the hours between sessions.
The Ten Dhaka Exhibitions Compared
- Dhaka International Trade Fair — Broadest general trade showcase, listed at 1,000 exhibitors
The widest entry point on the calendar. A general trade fair pulls banks, development organisations and consumer-goods names into one hall, and the supplied exhibitor figure of 1,000 is the largest in this set. That breadth suits a visitor who wants a single trip to sample several sectors, or a company testing whether Dhaka is worth a deeper visit. The trade-off is focus: with so much ground, pre-planning matters. Build a shortlist of stands before arrival, because walking the floor cold will not get you through a fair this size.
Best for: Multi-sector buyers and first-time visitors
- Bangladesh International Trade Fair — Second general trade fair with 800 exhibitors
Overlaps the first fair in scope but lands in March, and its listed exhibitor roster leans toward fast-moving consumer goods — food, household and tobacco names among them. If your interest is retail distribution or consumer brands rather than industrial sourcing, this is the more targeted of the two general fairs. At 800 exhibitors it is still large enough to fill two days. Compare the two rosters side by side before choosing; attending both may be redundant unless your product categories differ.
Best for: FMCG and consumer-goods sourcing
- Bangladesh Apparel & Textile Expo — Apparel and textile sourcing with 500 exhibitors
Bangladesh’s garment sector is the reason many international buyers come at all, and this February exhibition is built around it. International apparel and sportswear brands appear in the supplied roster, which signals a buyer-facing rather than purely domestic audience. Expect conversations about fabric, capacity and compliance. Come with specifications and target volumes written down; vague enquiries waste a meeting. The 500-exhibitor scale is manageable over two focused days, leaving room for follow-up.
Best for: Garment buyers and fabric specifiers
- Bangladesh ICT Expo — Technology and enterprise systems, 400 exhibitors
Enterprise software and hardware vendors dominate the listed names, so this May exhibition reads as a corporate IT audience rather than a consumer tech crowd. Useful if you are evaluating suppliers for a Bangladesh operation or looking for local integration partners. The 400-exhibitor count suggests a floor you can cover in a day and a half if you arrive with a target list. Bring your technical requirements; a general conversation at a stand rarely produces a useful quote.
Best for: IT decision-makers and systems integrators
- Bangladesh Food & Beverage Expo — Food and beverage processing, 300 exhibitors
An April exhibition aimed at food and beverage production, with multinational food and drinks brands in the supplied roster. It suits ingredient buyers, packaging suppliers and distributors rather than restaurant operators. At 300 exhibitors the floor is compact enough to work systematically. If you are exploring manufacturing or co-packing in Bangladesh, this is a sensible place to start conversations before requesting factory visits, which need their own scheduling and lead time.
Best for: Food manufacturers and ingredient buyers
- Dhaka International Health Expo — Healthcare and pharma suppliers, 250 exhibitors
The June healthcare exhibition lists pharmaceutical and device multinationals, pointing to a professional medical audience. Relevant for hospital procurement, distributors and pharmaceutical manufacturers. It is a smaller floor at 250 exhibitors, so a single day may suffice if your category list is narrow. Regulatory questions will come up in most conversations; know your own compliance position and ask counterparts which approvals they hold before discussing volumes.
Best for: Pharma, devices and hospital procurement
- Dhaka International Book Fair — Publishing and literary trade, 200 exhibitors
A February book fair with international publishing houses in the supplied roster. Its audience is the trade — publishers, distributors, booksellers — alongside a public readership that fairs of this kind often attract. That mix makes it valuable for rights conversations and distribution partnerships, but less predictable for pure sales meetings. Plan around the public hours if you need quiet time with a counterpart, and treat the 200-exhibitor floor as an introduction rather than a full market survey.
Best for: Publishers, booksellers and rights teams
- Bangladesh Electronics & Electrical Expo — Consumer electronics and electricals, 200 exhibitors
Consumer electronics and home appliance names fill the listed roster for this September exhibition. It is a distributor-facing event more than a sourcing one: think channel partners, retail listings and after-sales networks. With 200 exhibitors, a visitor can cover it comfortably in a day. If you are assessing the Bangladesh market for appliances or electrical goods, pair it with direct conversations about import duties and service coverage rather than relying on the floor alone.
Best for: Appliance brands and electrical distributors
- Bangladesh Leather & Footwear Expo — Leather goods and footwear, 150 exhibitors
An August exhibition for leather and footwear, with international sportswear and shoe brands in the supplied roster. This is a sourcing event for components, finished goods and manufacturing partners. At 150 exhibitors it is the second-smallest gathering here, but that suits a targeted visit: fewer stands, deeper conversations. Bring material specifications and ask about capacity and lead times early. If you need factory visits, raise them at the stand rather than assuming they can be arranged on the day.
Best for: Footwear sourcing and component suppliers
- Bangladesh Renewable Energy Expo — Renewable energy equipment, 100 exhibitors
The smallest exhibition in this set, at 100 exhibitors, and the most specialised. Listed names are power equipment and solar manufacturers. It suits project developers, engineering firms and buyers evaluating generation or efficiency equipment. Scale is modest, so treat the visit as a focused round of meetings rather than a market-wide scan. October timing gives you room to schedule it separately from the busier spring cluster.
Best for: Energy project developers and equipment buyers
Quick comparison
| # | Event | Dates | Industry | Exhibitors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dhaka International Trade Fair | January 2026 (unconfirmed) | General Trade | 1,000+ |
| 2 | Bangladesh International Trade Fair | March 2026 (unconfirmed) | General Trade | 800+ |
| 3 | Bangladesh Apparel & Textile Expo | February 2026 (unconfirmed) | Textiles & Apparel | 500+ |
| 4 | Bangladesh ICT Expo | May 2026 (unconfirmed) | Technology | 400+ |
| 5 | Bangladesh Food & Beverage Expo | April 2026 (unconfirmed) | Food & Beverage | 300+ |
| 6 | Dhaka International Health Expo | June 2026 (unconfirmed) | Healthcare | 250+ |
| 7 | Dhaka International Book Fair | February 2026 (unconfirmed) | Publishing | 200+ |
| 8 | Bangladesh Electronics & Electrical Expo | September 2026 (unconfirmed) | Electronics | 200+ |
| 9 | Bangladesh Leather & Footwear Expo | August 2026 (unconfirmed) | Leather & Footwear | 150+ |
| 10 | Bangladesh Renewable Energy Expo | October 2026 (unconfirmed) | Energy | 100+ |
Event details reflect supplied records and have not been independently verified for this guide. Always confirm on the official event website before booking travel or stand space.
Exhibiting or Visiting: Which Fits Your Dhaka Trip
Decide this before anything else, because it changes your budget, your freight and your calendar. Visiting is cheaper and faster: a flight, a hotel, a badge. Exhibiting means space, stand build, samples and staff time, and at a 1,000-exhibitor general fair your stand competes with hundreds of others for attention.
Use these rough tests, not rules:
- Visit if you are still assessing whether Bangladesh is a live market, or if your target list is under a dozen companies.
- Exhibit if you already sell into the region and want to meet distributors face to face at volume.
- Visit first, exhibit later if you have never attended. One trip as a visitor tells you more about floor traffic and audience quality than any brochure.
Industry matters too. Apparel, leather and food exhibitions attract buyers who arrive with specifications; a stand can work hard there. A specialised energy exhibition with 100 exhibitors is a meeting venue more than a lead-generation engine, so weigh the cost against a simple visit.
Either way, the supplied exhibitor counts describe past or planned editions, not guaranteed footfall. Treat them as a scale indicator and set expectations accordingly.
Pre-Show Outreach for Dhaka Audiences
Bangladeshi business culture rewards warm introductions. A cold email to a stand you have never met may go unanswered; a referral, or a message sent weeks ahead naming the exhibition, fares better.
Practical sequence for a visitor:
- Shortlist 10–15 exhibitors per event from the roster, prioritising the sectors you actually buy in.
- Write in English — it is the working language for most trade correspondence — and keep messages short.
- Propose a specific day and a 20-minute slot, and say what you want to discuss.
- Follow up once, about a week later. Then stop.
Expect relationship-first conversation. Opening with a price request can close doors; opening with what you buy and in what volumes opens them. Seniority matters, so ask who will be at the stand and whether a decision-maker will attend.
Language is mostly workable in English, but Bengali is the everyday language and a few phrases earn goodwill. Do not assume every counterpart is comfortable negotiating in English at speed; send key figures in writing afterwards.
Payments deserve early clarity. Ask before the show how a counterpart prefers to be paid for samples or deposits, and confirm your own bank’s handling of international transfers. Do not leave this to the final hour of a meeting.
Freight, Set-Up and Venue Rules: General Terms
The supplied records give no venue for any of these ten exhibitions, so treat all logistics as something to confirm directly. That is not a formality. Rules on deliveries, stand heights, power and waste vary by hall and organiser.
| Question | Ask whom | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Which hall and what are the build hours? | Organiser | Determines when freight can arrive |
| What is the customs route for samples? | Freight forwarder | Samples can be held at import |
| What power and rigging is included? | Organiser or stand builder | Avoids on-site charges |
| Who handles waste removal? | Organiser | Affects teardown cost |
Allow more time than you would in Europe or North America. Clearance and local transport can absorb days, not hours. Ship early, insure properly and keep a written record of what you sent.
For visitors, venue rules are lighter but real: badge collection, bag checks and photography limits are common. Carry business cards in quantity — they still matter here — and dress conservatively for first meetings.
Food and Downtime Between Sessions
Exhibition days are long, and Dhaka’s traffic can eat the gaps between them. Build slack into your schedule rather than stacking back-to-back meetings across the city.
Food is one of the easier parts of a visit. Rice, fish, lentils and spiced curries are staples, and business lunches are common. A few practical notes:
- Confirm dietary needs with your host in advance; many restaurants accommodate them.
- Drink bottled or filtered water, and be cautious with uncooked street food if your stomach is untested.
- Tea is the default meeting drink. Accepting it is part of the conversation.
- Alcohol is restricted; do not assume it will be available at dinners.
For downtime, keep it simple and close to your hotel. A gym, a pool or a quiet hour before an evening meeting does more for you than a rushed sightseeing trip. If you have a full free day, ask your local counterpart for a recommendation rather than relying on a guidebook.
Ramadan and public holidays can shift working hours and restaurant timings. Check the calendar before fixing your dates.
Dhaka Exhibitions: Visitor Questions
Do I need a visa to attend a trade show in Dhaka?
Most international visitors need a visa for Bangladesh, and the usual route is to apply before travel. Exhibitors sometimes receive invitation letters from organisers to support an application. Requirements differ by nationality, so check with the Bangladesh mission in your country well ahead of your dates. Do not book flights until your visa position is clear.
What language is used at Dhaka trade shows?
English is widely used for trade correspondence and at exhibition stands, especially where international brands appear in the roster. Bengali is the everyday language. For negotiations, speak slowly, confirm figures in writing, and ask whether a decision-maker will be present. A local interpreter can help where technical detail matters.
Are the 2026 dates in this guide confirmed?
No. The dates come from supplied records and have not been independently verified by this guide. Several exhibitions are listed between January and October 2026, but organisers can move dates or change venues. Contact each organiser directly before booking travel, freight or stand space, and re-check closer to the event.
Start with the sector, not the calendar. Pick the one or two Dhaka exhibitions that match what you buy or sell, message a shortlist of exhibitors, and ask each organiser to confirm dates, venue and logistics in writing before you commit. A disciplined visit beats a crowded itinerary.