PANJIM, NOV 10
Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (GCCI) ‘Shopping and Food Festival’ scheduled during IFFI will now be held in Panjim and Margao.
The Shopping and Food Festival, though received a standard response last year, will now be attracting people on the streets of Margao, as GCCI feels that the city has a largest number of retailers.
“We are involving the retailers in this festival and have made special efforts to bring them in large numbers. Being for the first time, last year we did it only in Panjim as we wanted to try our hands into it,” GCCI President Cesar Menezes told a press conference today.
Menezes said that this year, the festival will be aimed primarily at the citizens of Goa unlike exclusively for the IFFI delegates as was done last year.
The president said that GCCI in association with the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG), are planning to have the state’s greatest ever shopping festival.
Supporting the President, GCCI Retail and Consumer affairs committee Chairman Kirit Maganlal said that the ultimate objective of the festival is to have a grand festival in line with Dubai Shopping festival or any other international festival.
The festival, which proposed to cover nearly hundred establishments in each of the above cities, will be inaugurated on November 21 in both the cities at the hands of Bollywood stars.
Maganlal said that heavy discounts ranging between 20 to 30 percent would be offered during the festival days so that the retail business gets boost in the city.
The GCCI, along with discount aims to provide maximum benefit to the shopkeepers, by organising various street programmes thus promoting customers to the shops. “On purchase of items, people will be given free coupons and there will be lucky draw worth Rs 20,000 every day,” he stated.
The organising committee will be undertaking decorative street lighting along the streets like 18 June road and M G road in Panjim and Varde Valaulikar Marg and Isidore Baptiste road in Margao.
After much public demand, the Shopping and Food festival, this year will include more number of food outlets, depicting Goan food items.
“Apart from daily shopping schemes and discounts, there would be spot events and prizes, game stalls, street artists and musical programmes, thereby making shopping a wholesome and exciting experience,” Maganlal said.
Unlike last year, GCCI would be distributing Festival Maps, showing the shop locations, scheme offers and contacts, free of cost.
State’s apex business body has been hosting the Shopping Festival alongside IFFI since last year. IFFI will be held in Goa from November 23 to December 3.
‘Frequent expos hit retailers’
Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has said that frequent hosting of exhibitions in the city is not letting level playing field for the retail businessmen in the capital city.
GCCI’s Retail Committee chairman Kirit Maganlal said that the exhibitions and fairs held in the city are not following any norms while the retailers who have set up their shops in the city are asked to follow the rules.
He said that GCCI has made the representation to the state government asking them to tighten noose around such exhibitions, which have become regular affair in the city.
“There is no level playing field for the retailers who abide by all norms, pay all taxes and go through all the required formalities,” Maganlal, who owns Magsons chain of retail outlets, said.
When asked, Maganlal said that GCCI holds the festival at the backdrop of IFFI as during those days as it is easy to get the permission to host such event. “During rest of the days, it is difficult to get the government permissions,” he said.
