March 17, 2003	Monday	Muharram 13, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, March 16: The SAF Exhibition was inaugurated at the exhibition ground here on Sunday evening.

Fireworks and display by the Army Band marked the inauguration performed by the Punjab minister for tourism, Mian Mohammad Aslam Iqbal.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Iqbal said the holding of SAF Exhibition would go a long way in promoting the country and its culture amongst the visiting sportswomen/men, foreign media and dignitaries who would be present in Islamabad for the forthcoming South Asian Federation (SAF) Games starting from March 29.

The minister was warmly received on arrival and was taken inside the exhibition arena on-board a special buggy.

He visited some of the major stalls set up at the exhibition and later performed the formal inauguration by cutting the traditional ribbon.

The minister appreciated the efforts of the organizers for organizing the exhibition.

He urged the organizers to facilitate the local producers and manufacturers of goods in the exhibition.

Mr Iqbal said the Punjab government was paying attention to create tourist spots in the province and in this respect he mentioned the names of Jallo Park, Changa Manga, Kalar Kahar, Patriata, Chattar, Lal Sohanra and Wagha Border park as the place which would be turned into tourist attractions very soon.

He said Tourism Development Corporation of the Punjab (TDCP) was getting 200 buses from a Sharjah-based company which would be operated for these tourist sites and parks.

He also promised a ‘food street’ for Rawalpindi very soon as well as a ‘tourism Mela’ to be held in Rawalpindi in near future.

The minister also announced that a ‘desert safari’ would be held on March 29 and start from Rahim Yar Khan.

Despite having fallen back on schedule, the organizers managed to open and decorate a sizable number of stalls for the opening ceremony.

But work was still going on to set up stalls because of the delay caused by the Muharram holidays.

The SAF Games director administration, Brig Raza Siddiqui, expressed the hope that the ‘SAF Expo’ would go well alongside the SAF Games as entertainment and awareness activity for the visiting sportswomen/men, media persons and officials from the participating countries.