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Month-long Jakarta Fair begins, hailing city’s 496th anniversary
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Visitors enjoy the 2023 Jakarta Fair at the Jakarta International Expo (JIExpo) center in Kemayoran, North Jakarta, on June 14. (Antara//Galih Pradipta/)
This year's month-long Jakarta Fair opened on Wednesday as part of the capital’s 496th anniversary celebrations.
While the event made its long-awaited return last year after the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Jakarta Fair will be held without strict health protocols in place as the country approaches the virus as an endemic disease.
At the opening ceremony on Wednesday, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo highlighted the event’s long history.
“This year, Southeast Asia’s biggest and longest-running exhibition is back for its 54th edition. This event has been going on for half a century,” Jokowi said in a speech.
Likewise, interim Jakarta governor Heru Budi Hartono paid tribute to one of his predecessors, the late Ali Sadikin, who came up with the idea for the annual event in 1968 during his tenure as governor of the city. The annual exhibition was initially held in Merdeka Square, Central Jakarta, near the National Monument (Monas), but was moved in 1992 to its present home in the Jakarta International Expo (JIExpo) center in Kemayoran, North Jakarta.
Some 1,500 booths representing 2,500 tenants will be present at the celebrations, with electric vehicles (EVs) taking center stage this time around.
“We’ve provided plenty of space for small and medium enterprises [SOEs], culinary booths and an EV exhibition in support of the government’s initiative,” JIExpo general manager Oki Setiawan said in a press conference last week.
