& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Trade fair abuzz with visitors

Md Fazlur Rahman
Thousands of visitors thronged the Dhaka International Trade Fair yesterday to buy things from a wide range of product lines before the curtain of the exposition falls.
Many business entities had already cut the price of their products to boost sales and promotion in the last few days of the fair which is due to end on Monday.
Golam Rabbi, who works at a private firm, came to the fair at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar from Cazipur accompanying four members of his family.
"I am feeling good to see a huge crowd at the premises, but still it is less than that of last year," he said. His wife, who bought bed covers and food items, said the prices are high.
Stalls and pavilions that were selling ladies' garments, furniture, plastic kitchenware, foods, electronic gadgets and steel and aluminium kitchenware were the crowd-pullers.
Aminul Alam Rubel, a manager of Bengal Textile, which is selling silk saris and salwar kameezes, said many renowned local companies had not taken part in the exposition.
They feared that the fair might not turn out successful like in the past but the exposition still attracted a large crowd at the end, he said.
"As a result, we are doing good business," Rubel said, adding that their sales are up about 20 percent from last year's.
Tansen Barua, of Banani Textile, said their sales had lived up to their expectation despite thin presence of visitors at the beginning of the fair.
Banani Textile sells panjabi, fatua, salwar kameez, shawls and towels all prepared by indigenous women of Rangamati.
Pankaj Haidar, a manager of Alloy Aluminium Furniture, said the sales are up by 30 percent from last year's.
In the fair, the company has launched its new designs in the areas of wardrobes, kitchen desks, tea tables, shoe racks, beds and office furniture, offering 15 percent discount on all items.
Abul Monsur Sikder, assistant manager of Max Industries Ltd, said sales are quite good although they had not set any target at the beginning of the fair.
The company has been producing stainless steel products for kitchen and home decoration since 2010.
"We have experienced a very good response from the visitors. We are now selling our products through distributors. Such response will help us
to decide whether we will open any showroom," Sikder told The Daily Star.
A number of stalls selling blazers have cut down their prices and are selling most of their stocks atTk 1,600.
However, not all stalls and pavilions have been able to make a good profit.
Syed Aseef Altaf, owner of Pink Street stall, which sells fashion wears for ladies, has invested over Tk 3 lakh in the fair, but his sales were not enough to give him a good return.
Fardin Ahmed, a manager of Haji Biriyani and Kabab, said most business entities would not be able to recoup their investment.
Mohammad Modasser, a deputy manager of Sajeeb Food, said the sales had been good only on Friday and other holidays.
The 19th edition of the annual trade fair is open to the public from 10:00am to 10:00pm daily.