IT shopping festival in Colombo

An IT Shopping Festival will be held for the first time in Sri Lanka at the Unity Plaza, from September 2-8. The festival will showcase the world's leading brands and the latest IT technology. "The IT shopping festival will not only offer a range of products and services, but will be an exhibition as well. The festival will also have raffle draws.

There are 58 IT shops at the Unity Plaza and the event will showcase all products under one roof, Intel EM Limited, Country Business Manager, Indika de Zoysa said. The festival aims at creating awareness of the latest technology, he said.

It will not only showcase all brands in the world, but also technological innovations to visitors. "We are looking at fast development as a country and expected to reach an IT literacy rate of 75 percent by 2016 with 80 percent broad band connectivity. Apart from this, there will be 80,000 more jobs and the IT industry is confident of crossing the $ 1 billion mark in exports shortly," De Zoysa said. The festival will contribute immensely towards achieving these goals, he said.

The shops are no more going to be box sellers, but will sell experience. The festival is expected to uplift Unity Plaza as a reliable place for IT products. There will be multiple vendors, multiple partners and multiple products at the festival which will give customers a wide selection, he said.

The government has removed Value Added Tax for IT local products and this encourages the development of the IT industry, he said.

- SJ