Jakarta Fair to go on despite economic crisis

JAKARTA (JP): The annual Jakarta Fair will be held next month despite the absence of foreign participants and the sad fortunes of local firms, the organizer said yesterday.

The month-long fair, to be opened by President B.J. Habibie, is designed to show that business activities are continuing in the capital, said Gito Bantas, president of fair organizer Jakarta International Trade Fair Corporation (JITFC).

"Governor Sutiyoso said the fair was expected to bring a particular political message as the event would prove that Jakarta was still alive," he told the media yesterday.

It's not dead as some would probably think."

As of yesterday, only 476 local companies, or less than 20 percent of last year's 2,600 participating firms, had registered for the July 4 - Aug. 2 exhibition at the Jakarta Fairgrounds in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.

This is despite the organizer offering a slight discount in rates to prospective participants.

Last year, 16 foreign companies joined the event, which is held in conjunction with the commemoration of Jakarta's anniversary on June 22.

The organizer has allocated about Rp 3 billion (US$230,770), less than half of last year's budget, to finance the 1998 Jakarta Fair, Gito said.

He argued the amount, collected by JIFTC from last year's earnings, was justified even during the crisis.

"It's not wasting money. It's an arena to show that Jakarta is still there. If there's no Jakarta Fair, it means that the capital is already dead."

JIFTC is 40 percent owned by Japan's Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF), another 40 percent by PT Jaya Nusa Perdana, a private firm, 15 percent by the city administration and the remaining 5 percent by the state secretary on behalf of the government.

Gito promised to try to make the event as festive as possible to help people forget the trauma of the riots which hit the capital last month.

"If this fair could not meet the target, it seems that we should kiss next year's economy goodbye," Gito said.

Several local artists had been contacted to participate in the fair, Gito said, but no foreign performers would be among the entertainers.

Artists from several countries, including the Philippines and Brazil, were invited to perform traditional dances at last year's fair.

About two million people are expected to visit the fair this year.

The exhibition was originally scheduled for this month but it was postponed to July due to the uncertain conditions, particularly the mid-May riots.

Last year, the fair -- open daily from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekends -- attracted no fewer than 2.5 million visitors with a total of Rp 125 billion in transactions, Gito explained.

The organizer will cut entrance prices from Rp 3,000 per visitor to Rp 2,000.

Gito said neither he nor the participants would dare to project profits.

"Many participants do not really expect their products to be bought by visitors. They consider the fair more as an opportunity to show to the public that they still exist." (cst)