D

espite the country'€™s slow economic growth this year, the organizers of the Jakarta Great Sale Festival, which began on Saturday, are optimistic about attracting more customers and generating more money than last year.

This year'€™s Jakarta Great Sale will be held from June 6 to July 12, participated in by around 2,000 retailers at 78 shopping malls across the capital city with discounts up to 70 percent. As many as 19 participating malls are scheduled to hold a series of midnight sales on different dates during the event.

This year'€™s festival will also see the maiden participation of city-owned market operator PD Pasar Jaya, which will offer discounts on basic commodities and hold a kiosk decoration competition at 10 traditional markets in all five municipalities on Saturday and Sunday.

A number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are also set to sell their products at three high-end shopping malls.

The head of the Indonesian Shopping Center Association (APPBI), Ellen Hidayat, said she believed that the festival would draw shoppers not only from Jakarta and surrounding areas, but from across the whole country.

'€œWe'€™re looking at a 30 to 40 percent hike in customer numbers and Rp 14.3 trillion [US$ 1.06 billion] in transactions this year,'€ she said during the festival'€™s opening ceremony at the Baywalk shopping mall in North Jakarta on Saturday.

The festival saw Rp 13 trillion in transactions last year, a modest increase from Rp 11.8 trillion in 2013.

The Jakarta administration'€™s Economic Bureau head Adi Ariantara said during the same occasion that the target was feasible because the sale coincided with the Ramadhan holy month and the school holidays.

'€œEconomic growth is always boosted during those months,'€ he said.

Jakarta Tourism and Culture Agency head Purba Hutapea, meanwhile, said that the administration supported the Jakarta Great Sale and hoped the event could help the administration to reach its target of three million foreign tourists this year.

'€œThis year, we'€™re focusing on attracting tourists from Malaysia, Singapore, China, South Korea and Japan,'€ he said.

Meanwhile, Ellen claimed that Indonesia had become an international shopping destination because shoppers could buy branded goods at lower prices than in, for example, Singapore.

Despite the optimism, the event seemed to have failed to register with a number of Jakartans

Tini, 50, a shopper at Plaza Senayan in Central Jakarta, was surprised to learn from The Jakarta Post that the great sale had kicked off on Saturday.

'€œAs you can see, there are no Jakarta Great Sale banners in here,'€ she said, adding that last year'€™s event was more lively.

Tini, a frequent visitor to the Singapore Great Sale, expressed hope that the city'€™s sale would match its neighbor'€™s.

'€œThe deals here aren'€™t that good. I once spotted a garment that was tagged as a discounted item. However, when I looked closer, the after-deduction price was actually a regular price,'€ said Tini, who said that during the great sale, she usually hunted for items from famous fashion brands such as Gucci, Bally, Coach and Longchamp. (prm)