The fair “Diarna for Dumyat home furniture and accessories”, which opened in Cairo on 2 June and runs till 13 June, has been seeing an unprecedented number of visitors.
The fair has been jointly organised by the Ministry of Social Solidarity and furniture manufacturers in the city of Dumyat (Damietta) on the northern tip of the eastern branch of the Nile Delta, as well as a number of manufacturers of home accessories and utilities, who all banded together with the purpose of offering their goods at discounted prices for those who need them.
The exhibition was opened by Dumyat Governor Manal Mikhail Awad, and Social Solidarity Minister Nevine al-Kabbag. Ms Awad said that Dumyat, famous for its furniture industry, has offered the product of a number of its big and small manufacturers at affordable prices. Ms Kabbag explained that the Ministry has cooperated with NGOs that helped market the products of small producers or cottage industries. A number of NGOs, she said, volunteered to cover the needs of young couples with limited means planning to marry, thus helping them start families and set up homes without taking on debt.
Participating in this fair are some 300 producers from 13 of Egypt’s governorates. The producers came from Cairo; al-Wadi al-Gadeed, North and South Sinai; Fayoum, Gharbiya; Dumyat; Menoufiya; Qalyoubiya; Alexandria; Aswan; Sohag; and the Red Sea governorates.
“Diarna”, literal for “Our Homes”, started off in 1958, sponsored by the Ministry of Social Affairs—today the Ministry of Social Solidarity—under the name “Productive Families Fair”. The aim was to market products of cottage or home-based industries in order to help families increase their income. It has steadily grown, today featuring products from all Egypt’s 28 governorates, and has expanded to include goods produced by craftsmen and micro industries, also a few public sector companies that sell at discounted prices personal and home products in high demand by the public. It now opens in various cities across the country at different times of the year, generating good revenue.
Watani International
8 June 2021