The Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair is a major promotional event organised by the Board of External Trade. The Board of External Trade is a government institution, which was established under the Act No. 5 of 1978 to spearhead Tanzania' s Export endeavours.

The Trade Fair Grounds which is also known as Mwl. J.K.Nyerere Trade Fair Grounds were inaugurated in 1962, one year after Tanzania gained her independence on 9th December 1961. The Grounds at that time were under the Ministry of Trade and Co-operative Unions and the fair was known as the National Agricultural and Trade Fair (NATF).

The first trade fair was held in 1963. It was organised by an expert from UK in the Ministry of Trade and Cooperative Unions by the name Mr. Lucas, with the assistance of Mr. Mashamba who was an official of the Ministry.

The Board of External Trade of Tanzania dedicated to establishing global business partnership through organising and managing international and specialised trade fairs, solo exhibitions, product and market research, prospect development, Trade missions, buyer-seller meetings and contact marketing programmes. BET gives out regular trade information and offers consultancy services to producers, exporters and importers to enable them to effectively participate in the global market place.

The Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair has established itself over years as the shop window for Tanzania products as well as the East, Central and the Southern African Region.Supported by the services of the Dar es Salaam harbaour which serves the region effectively, the fair acts as one stop centre for reaching countries such as Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

The fairs enjoys patronage of the Tanzania business community who both exhibit and use it as a forum for business exchange.

Participation has ever been on the increase from a mere over 100 companies in the late eighties to over 1041 companies in 1999. In 2004 a total of 2,145 exhibitors exhibited at the fair and came from overseas representing over 28 countries, Tanzania inclusive.

The fair enjoys support of the Governement through the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The fair is also supported by the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (TCCIA) and the Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI) as well as other institutions in the country.

Number of Exhibitors in 2004 were as follows: