NAIROBI, July 25 (Xinhua) -- An international trade fair scheduled for August in south Sudan would showcase investment opportunities in the vast region created by the landmark peace agreement which ended more than two decades of civil war, organizers said on Tuesday.

    The first Southern Sudan Trade Fair and Reconstruction Exhibition, to be held in Juba University on August 10-12, would also seek ways of tapping immense business opportunities in the region, unlocked by last year's signing of the landmark peace agreement between the Khartoum government and southern rebels.

    The exhibition, organized by the Bread of Life Africa (BOLA) and supported by the government of southern Sudan, would review recent economic development and the challenges of the peace agreement in relation to investment, Don Reld, BOLA's Chief Executive Officer, said in a media briefing session in Nairobi.

    Reld said the trade fair would showcase investment opportunities available to investors from Africa, Europe and the United States and would also focus on how these potential investors could maximize existing opportunities in southern Sudan's oil, gas, services and power sectors.

    The international exhibitors would come from Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Africa and the United States. More than 100 firms would attend the exhibition, said Reld.

    "The first people to bring services to the people of Sudan, I believe, will benefit a lot in terms of business. We want the business community to know each other, be well informed and our desire is to see change of lives for the people of Horn of Africa," he added.

    He said Southern Sudan's President Salva Kiir Mayardit, who is also Sudan's First Vice President, would preside over the opening session of the international trade fair.

    "The president will reiterate that southern Sudan is ready for private investments from across the Africa region with plenty of rich natural resources and available raw materials suitable for the sustainable growth of the manufacturing sectors in both south Sudan and the entire continent," said Christine Ijno Oyenak, the Director for Trade Promotion of the southern Sudanese government. Enditem