Economy, Domestic Economy
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Last-Minute Rush at Iranian Expo in Karachi

Last-Minute Rush at Iranian Expo in Karachi
Last-Minute Rush at Iranian Expo in Karachi

People who did not find time to visit Iran’s solo trade exhibition, which began at the Expo Center in Karachi on Friday, rushed to the venue on Sunday.

In fact, they were so keen to visit the four-day expo that they had begun trickling into the center even before the organizers had opened the gate for the public, Pakistani news portal ARY News reported.

There were better security arrangements there than what were seen on the opening day when there was just one police van in the parking lot and nobody at all at the walkthrough gate. Officers discreetly frisked people going inside, leaving relatively older people untouched.

When inside, most of the visitors would have been disappointed as they could not get what they planned to buy.

“Please leave that blanket alone. It is not for sale, it is only for display,” said Mahmoud, a representative of the Lilian company selling blankets. “No, madam, all double-bed blankets have sold out,” he turned his attention to a woman customer.

Zainabakh, a young woman at the rug-selling stall, is also busy handling customers.

“These are the rugs you booked yesterday?” she hands over a plastic bag to a middle-aged man. “No, no, I didn’t book them … But I’m interested in this rug. How much is it for?” he points to one of the rugs on display. “Ok, you can have it for Rs4,000,” she said.

When the man haggled over the price, she smilingly said: “Ok, for you, it’s Rs3,500.”

Jamal from Yazd at the carpet stall spoke fluent Urdu. He had a hard time convincing visitors that the carpets that hung there had already been sold and their delivery would be made on Monday, the last day of the exhibition.

“But you can order the same quality material in larger sizes,” he told every potential customer. “These centerpieces are for Rs11,000 each,” he told a visitor.

“The largest size is available here for Rs47,000, but you can’t buy it for less than Rs63,000 apiece in your local market.”

Stalls that did not sell their products said they also got a very good response from people who booked their orders and left the formalities to be completed later.

In cases where the Iranian firms already had agencies or dealers in Pakistan, the customers were directed to contact them, mainly in Quetta and Karachi.

 

 

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