Visitors throng DITF stalls

The Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF-2017) drew a huge number of visitors on Friday, the second weekend after the beginning of the country's biggest trade exposition.
People from all strata, especially youths and women, thronged the annual fair to spend their weekly holiday with their near and dear ones and at the same time, to buy products from diverse sources.
Heavy rush was witnessed in all kinds of outlets which gave momentum to the fair for the first time after 12 days of its beginning.
"The number of visitors today is significantly more than that of previous days and even more than that of the last weekend. We think it is also the sign of the fair getting more attention of the people," said Serajul Islam, outlet manager of the Delhi Aluminium, an outlet at the fair.
Mr Serajul Islam said since the beginning, visitors were comparatively thin but their number has been gradually rising. There had been a mad rush to the fair Friday.
"We also expected that from this weekend, the visitors could increase significantly and it did," he added.
Sellers were seen busy in dealing with customers and drawing their attention through different ways including miking and calling them to their shops.
Besides introducing new products, most of the stalls are also offering discounts and gift items to draw attention of the visitors. Outlets offer 5 to 30 per cent discounts on different products.
Mustafizur Rahman, a sales official of the Brothers Furniture, told the FE that they introduced some new items at the fair and they offer 5 to 15 per cent discount on all their items.
Nazratul Toma, a housewife, said she has just bought different household materials from the fair ground.
"Every year I wait for the fair to purchase household necessities because I get discounts and varied products here," she added.
A great rush was also seen at the restaurants though prices of food items were much higher. Most of the restaurants also don't have price lists.
Riaz Hossain, a salesman of the NFC, a restaurant at the fair, told the FE that they don't have the list but they sell chicken biryani at Tk 170, Burgur Tk 100 and sandwich Tk 40.
When asked about the high prices, he said the rates were fixed in consideration of all expenses incurred here.
At an outlet of Hajir Biryani, it was seen that the price of per plate chicken, mutton and beef biriyani is Tk 290, Tk 340 and Tk 370 respectively which is double of normal price.
Akaid Hossain, a banker, told the FE that he just had some food here and was wondering over the high prices.
"I went to some of the food shops but found prices are significantly higher than the normal prices. I think general people will hardly afford to pay such prices," he added.
However, managers, owners and salesmen expressed their satisfaction on overall management of the fair. Foreign managers and salesmen also showed their great contentment on management and security system in the fair.
Navid Zaman, a manager of a Kashmir-based Shawl outlets, told the FE that they are happy with all arrangements.
The DITF 2017 is the 22nd edition of the annual mega event jointly organised by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) and the Ministry of Commerce (MoC).
Apart from Bangladesh, 20 countries including India, Pakistan, China, Malaysia, Iran, South Korea, Thailand, the US, the UK, Turkey and Singapore are taking part in the fair.
Entry fee has been fixed at Tk 30 for adults and Tk 20 for children. Some 580 pavilions, mini-pavilions and stalls have been set up at the trade fair.
    wazeddu@yahoo.com