KARACHI, June 27: Several thousand people visited the 70-odd stalls at the “All About Lifestyles Exhibition” held at the Karachi Expo Centre under the auspices of the Dawn Group of Newspapers on Friday. of the three-day event.

Provincial minister for excise and taxation Abdul Rauf Siddiqui was the chief guest on the first day of the three-day event. He visited all the stalls and evinced keen interest in the products on display.

Talking to Dawn, he said the government wanted to see local products and services promoted. “Exhibitions like this one will go a long way in creating confidence in Pakistanis about the local products,” he said.

Replying to a question, he said his ministry had managed to meet the collection targets given to it. “In fact, our performance has exceeded all expectations,” he claimed.

From manufacturers of electronic goods to makers of home appliances, from Internet service providers to sellers of cellular phones, from makers of designers furniture to those of designer doors, from boutiques owners to manufacturers of ready-made clothes, and from hospitals to cosmetic surgeons — all kinds of firms are being represented in the exhibition.

However, only one book-stall has been set up, perhaps indicating the people’s less-inclination towards reading habit. Similarly, the exhibition has only one art gallery.

Both these stalls have been established on the mezzanine floor of one of the three exhibition halls at the Expo Centre. As a result, very few people visited the two stalls on Friday. The chief guest, too, visited the stalls very briefly.

Several charitable organizations are being represented at the exhibition. Three of them are currently involved in building hospitals in Karachi and Narowal.

A stall which caught much attention was that of two brothers who have launched a firm only a couple of years back. They are in their 20s and involved in charity work as well as educational projects, as they told Dawn.