By IANS
Kuala Lumpur : The Mid Valley exhibition centre in this Malaysian capital has turned into a virtual Indian bazaar for the 10-day Global Indian Shopping Festival (GISF) 2007.
Kicked off Friday, the festival's main purpose is to provide a single shopping platform for people to buy Indian products ranging from handicraft items to IT products.
Encouraged by the tremendous success of the GISF 2005 and 2006 which generated revenues of 12 million ringgit ($3.5 million), the organisers are hopeful that more than 300,000 visitors would turn up this year for what is being termed as the largest shopping festival in the region.
Sarees, bangles, decorative items and Indian sweets are just a few of the attractions at the festival, which ends June 10.
"This year, we have more exhibitors from states like Orissa, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. The prices are also cheaper as we have special clearance from the customs department," said Jaggarao Simancha, director of Asc Agenda Suria Communication, the organisers of the gala event.
There are 218 exhibitors taking part in the event, including some from Malaysia and few from southeast Asia, the New Straits Times reported.
A number of entertainment programmes have been arranged to attract shoppers.
An interesting aspect of the festival is the staging of Kettimelam Kalyanam, or the traditional Hindu wedding ceremony, an event organised by a Tamil radio station here, THR Raaga, in association with GISF.
The event will have three couples tying the knot in a grand ceremony at a local South Indian temple June 6.