J

akarta Great Sale Festival is here. The annual event is again ready to satisfy shoppers’ needs with many affordable prices.

The festival, which will run until July 14, will offer shoppers up to 70 percent discounts for both new goods and old stock.

“With the discounts, I’m sure that we can compete with the similar Great Singapore Sale. We have conducted surveys in Singapore and I can guarantee you that some goods are way cheaper here,” the chairman of the organizing committee, Handaka Santosa, said.

With such deep discounts, he said, he expected more foreign tourists from Southeast Asia and other countries would instead shop in Jakarta, making Jakarta a regional shopping destination.

The Great Singapore Sale 2012 opened May 25 and will run until July 22.

“Together with the Jakarta branch of ASITA [The Association of Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies], we’ve been conducting extensive marketing activities in several countries in the Middle East. So, we hope more tourists from the Middle East will come to the capital and shop this year,” Handaka said.

The festival is organized jointly by the Jakarta branch of the Indonesian Shopping Center Association (APPBI) and the Jakarta administration in order to commemorate Jakarta’s 485th anniversary, which falls on June 22. Unlike previous years, the 2012 Jakarta Great Sale Festival will last for 44 days, hoping to rake in more transactions.

This year, the committee is hoping to reach a total of Rp 10 trillion (US$ 1.08 billion) in transactions from the 73 shopping centers, 5,000 shops and 18,000 outlets participating in the festival. Last year, 68 shopping malls took part in the festival, booking Rp 8 trillion in total transactions.

This year, participating malls include: Mal Taman Anggrek and Puri Indah Mall in West Jakarta; Mal Kelapa Gading and WTC Mangga Dua in North Jakarta; Arion Mall and Tamini Square in East Jakarta; Senayan City and Gajah Mada Plaza in Central Jakarta; and Gandaria City and Pejaten Village in South Jakarta.

The Jakarta administration said that the festival was also expected to help the city’s economy grow, as more than 20 percent of the city’s revenue came from the trade and tourism sectors.

The festival will also feature social and cultural activities, ranging from blood donations to a Betawi parade that will include decorated carriages and giant ondel-ondel Betawi effigies.

The event was first introduced to celebrate the city’s anniversary back in the 1980s as the Festival Pertokoan (Shops Festival). The name was then changed with Pesta Diskon (Discount Party) in the 1990s before being re-branded as the Jakarta Great Sale today.

Dwi Tupani, a resident of West Jakarta, said that she was excited to learn that the Jakarta Great Sale had started.

“I love to go window shopping when there are sales. But if temptations are strong enough and the goods are nice, I may end up buying several things, too,” she said.

She added that she might browse for clothes for Idul Fitri during the festival.

“I like shopping in Jakarta’s malls more than other cities, because most of the malls here are very attractive,” she said.

There are more than 120 shopping centers in Jakarta.