T

he city'€™s traditional markets will take part in the upcoming Jakarta Great Sale alongside modern shopping malls.

PD Pasar Jaya president director Djangga Lubis said that 10 traditional markets would offer discounts of up to 20 percent on basic commodities, such as rice supplied by the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), in the event planned to be held on June 6 to July 12.

'€œWe do hope the discounts will be helpful for the middle-lower income bracket,'€ he said over the weekend as quoted by beritajakarta.com.

However, the city-owned enterprise has yet to decide which traditional markets would be involved in the event.

The administration will hold the Jakarta Great Sale to celebrate the city'€™s 488th anniversary, which falls on June 22. This year'€™s tagline is '€œJakarta Smart City, Smart Shopping'€. The event will involve various business sectors, such as retail, tourist and entertainment business.

Indonesian shopping centers association (APPBI) head Ellen Hidayat said the event was a discount fiesta held to attract domestic and foreign tourists to shop in the city.

'€œWe would like the event to show the public that shopping in Jakarta has more benefits than abroad,'€ she said over the weekend, adding that products sold in the event would be of good quality as well as have competitive price tags.

 '€œWe do hope retailers give us their full support by offering attractive discounts to customers,'€ she said.

Last year, more than 70 shopping centers in Jakarta took part in the event that was held first in 2009 with total transactions amounting to Rp 13 trillion (US$1 billion). APPBI aims for a 10 percent increase in transactions this year from last year.