TRIPOLI, May 3 (Xinhua) -- The sixth edition of the Africa Building and Construction Equipment Exhibition kicked off in Libya's Misrata city on Saturday to encourage investment and business partnerships and promote the Libyan and North African construction market.

The event, which runs through Tuesday, reflects a growing interest in Libya's construction market from across the region and beyond.

It is attended by exhibitors and business representatives from China, Syria, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Türkiye, Italy, Greece, and Ghana, among others, alongside 25 Tunisian and more than 70 Libyan companies.

The trade fair focuses on construction equipment, building materials, reconstruction, ceramics, steel, and exchanges on modern construction technologies.

In his address to open the exhibition, Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah highlighted the construction and building sector as "one of the key drivers of development and reconstruction efforts in the country."

The Libyan government is working to implement its smart city projects in partnership with the private sector, prioritizing the construction and reconstruction aspect, Minister of Housing and Construction, Issam Al-Tamouni, was quoted as saying by local media reports.

Misrata, located on Libya's northwestern Mediterranean coast, is about 187 km east of the capital, Tripoli. ■