The latest edition of the Doha Trade Fair opened to the public yesterday at Doha Exhibition Center offering visitors a premium shopping experience.
More than 550 renowned exhibitors from 31 different countries will be showcasing and selling the latest exclusive and traditional products from around the globe at the nine-day fair which is organised jointly by Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI) and Qatar Media Services (q.media).
The hot weather did not stop families from accessing the souq-like shopping environs at the exhibition centre. Hundreds of stalls, offering an array of goods for consumers, have come up at the trade pavilions. Among the attractions are stalls selling brassware, carpets, ethnic wears, traditional sweets, dry fruit, glassware, leather goods and utensils to name a few.
The organisers said the fair received close to 22,000 on the opening day.
Unlike in the previous year, there seems to be major fall in the numbers of Chinese stalls even as there has been a sharp rise in the number of participants from other countries, notably Iran and Turkey.
Likewise, there seems to be a large number of traders from India and Pakistan, offering ethnic wears, textiles, glassware and brassware.
As usual, stalls selling perfumes, especially from Saudi Arabia and Iran, were doing brisk business.
This year’s fair is witnessing a rise in the number of outlets selling made-in-Qatar goods, including readymade clothes and utensils.
Iranian carpet stalls were also drawing a lot of visitors. Carpet prices ranged from QR2,000 to QR100,000. One of the stalls claims to have brought 100-ft carpets for sale.
The vice chairman of QCCI, Mohamed bin Ahmed bin Touwar, and the head of organising internal exhibitions at Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) were among others present at the opening ceremony.
Speaking to journalists after the inaugural ceremony, Touwar said the exhibition would succeed driving home the point that there is no place in the region that is as good as Qatar for doing business. “We aim to develop Qatar as the most-friendly destination of the region.”
And this exhibition is just one of the numerous initiatives that the country has made in popularising its business-friendly environs to the outside world, he said.
A highlight of the event is a giant Monopoly game board at the Fun Zone, which the Guinness officials recorded as the largest ever displayed.
According to Dany Hachem, the Group Event Adviser at q.media, more than 25 officials from the local embassies attended the inaugural function.
Acrobats, drum beaters and bugle-blowers provided a festive touch to the ceremony.
The fair is open from 10am to 10pm daily except Friday when the gates will open at 2 in the afternoon.
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