Nesmahar Sayed insists on going to the Cairo fair The 42nd Cairo International Fair took off at the Egyptian capital's fairgrounds last Tuesday with "Egypt: Enhancing Integration for Development" as its theme. As is the case every year, thousands visit the fairgrounds each day. This year 20 countries and over 1,000 companies are taking part. And Thailand is the guest of honour. "We come every year from Port Said to buy from the fair because prices are cheaper and there is a wide variety of products from different countries," Boshra El-Sherbini told Al-Ahram Weekly while pausing for a rest after walking through the various exhibits spread over 35,000 square metres. Though Port Said is a free zone and as such one would expect goods would be cheaper there, El-Sherbini insists that products at the fair are better priced. She said that "kitchen utensils for example are around LE400 cheaper than back home." And she's not alone: Injy Nabil, a housewife, also visits the fair annually. She says that her money goes a long way. But not everyone who visits necessarily comes to make a purchase. Others just pay the LE3 ticket to roam around and spend the day with their family in the fairground gardens and maybe take advantage only of particularly attractive offers. Be that as it may, the huge number of visitors gives the wrong impression that business is booming, said Mohamed Allam, an importer of Indian products who is participating in the fair for the second year running. "Purchasing power this year is lower than last year," said Allam, attributing the slowdown to the repercussions of the global financial crisis. He complained that increased fees for renting space at the fair this year have reflected on the price of his goods. And higher prices are pushing buyers even further away. "The majority of this year's visitors are from the middle class. They buy only what they really need and have no room for luxury," Allam told the Weekly. Other companies showing their products at the fair aren't particularly bothered about whether their sales are up or down. For instance Mustika Ratu, from Indonesia, is participating for the first time at the fair. He hopes to find a distributor for his company in Egypt, the Middle East and Africa. His company produces natural skin care, herbal supplements and spa products. And certain exhibits attract attention regardless of the economic situation. These include the area specified for Upper Egypt with products from Aswan, Qena, Assiut, Sohag, Beni Sweif and Al-Wadi Al-Gadid. The fair closes on 27 March.
