The participants in the opening ceremony placed a floral basket before the portraits of smiling President Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il displayed in the Rason Exhibition Hall and paid tribute to them.

Attending the ceremony were Jo Jong Ho, chairman of the Rason City People's Committee who is also chairman of the organizing committee of the exhibition, officials concerned, people in the city, and delegates of different countries, those who displayed products in the exhibition and foreign businessmen active in the Rason economic and trade zone.

An opening address was made at the ceremony to be followed by congratulatory speeches.

Speakers noted that the DPRK is dynamically pushing ahead with economic construction and has already laid an institutional and legal groundwork for developing and revitalizing the zone.

They said that the zone is providing economic bodies and companies of various countries and the region with a favorable environment for conducting transit trade, processing trade and tourism in line with their will and wishes. They noted that the exhibition would offer a good opportunity for promoting the friendship and solidarity among countries and further developing wide-ranging and multi-faceted economy and trade.

At the end of the ceremony, the participants looked round electric and electronic goods, light industrial products, foodstuff, daily necessities, medicines, vehicles, etc. displayed by at least 100 companies from the DPRK, China, Russia, Italy, Thailand and other countries.