Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced several measures to boost the export and housing sector in Saturday’s press briefing. The union minister in her address announced that in order to boost exports, annual mega shopping festivals will be organised in India soon.
The FM announced that in March next year, annual mega shopping festivals, similar to the ones held in Dubai, will be held in four places across the country. The festivals will be in four themes- handicrafts, yoga, tourism and textiles & leather. The destinations for these shopping festivals will be decided by the commerce ministry.
The Gulf emirate organises several world-renowned events like Dubai Shopping Festival, the Dubai Jazz Festival, the Dubai Food Festival, the Dubai International Film Festival, the Dubai Desert Classic and the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships which bring in a horde of tourists every year.
It may be noted that the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) is an annual month-long event put together by the Dubai Festivals & Retail Establishment (DFRE). This event is a part of Dubai’s department of tourism. During the event, shops offer discounts on their merchandise, daily car raffles and prize drawings are held to win items such as gold and cars. There are also a range of family activities and live shows that take place throughout Dubai.
It is basically an annual celebration of fireworks, concerts, raffles, prizes. The 2019 edition of the Dubai Shopping Festival was the biggest so far as it showcased concerts by celebrities such as Hussain Al Jassmi, Arijit Singh and George Ezra, hosted citywide raffles and competitions that saw winners drive home with cash and cars, and organised events like Shop the Night Away and the DSF Weekend Surprise.
It is worth mentioning that this announcement comes in the backdrop of India’s attempts to tackle the economic slowdown, slow job growth, and decelerating exports. The economic growth in the June quarter was at 5%, its slowest pace in more than six years.
India’s exports dropped by 6.05% to $26.13 billion in August on account of a significant dip in shipments from key sectors such as petroleum, engineering, leather, and gems & jewellery. Imports also declined by 13.45% to $39.58 billion, narrowing trade deficit to $13.45 billion in August, according to the government data released on Friday.