The fair has been organised for the last three years and always propelled a growth in sale as visitors flocked to the venue, the traders said.

Sales executives at Flora Limited said they always have a sale of at least Tk one crore in a fair lasting up to 10 days.

Most people wait for the fair to buy a computer by browsing different stalls with low-price packages on offer. "My daughter was asking for a computer for long, but I was waiting for the fair," said Manzoor Ali, working in a private company. "As I have a low budget, I have to compare offers by different shops," he said.

The fair has created a tradition of alluring customers with special offers and discounts. "We are offering a discount of Tk 1,500 to Tk 2,000 as customers expect something special in the fair," said Ashiqul Islam of Flora.

Daffodil Computer also has offered a 15 percent discount on their recent product, O2-Xda, a pocket PC with cellphone.

Not only new products but also old models of computer or accessories are on discount. "We are selling a multimedia PC only at Tk 18,699 at the fair, down from Tk 20,500," said Rafique Sumon of Spectrum Engineering Consortium Limited.

Different types of computer and accessories, hardware and software are available at the fair. Games, MP-3s, multimedia software and educational CDs are also being sold. Some publishing houses are holding stalls in the fair where books, magazines and other publications related to IT (information technology) are available.

A large section of visitors show up only to browse new goodies. "As computer technology changes fast, we may fall behind if you do not follow the track regularly," said Faisal Ispahani, a computer science student of American International University of Bangladesh (AIUB).

"I would have missed out on the accounting software, ITACS, tailor-made for Bangladesh," said Sajjad Hossain who works at the accounting department of a private company.

ITACS brought by Zodiac Computer and Communication costs Tk 200 with a user's guide.

Apart from 114 permanent shops, 11 temporary stalls are displaying their products in the fair. "Our organisation is new -- importing digital video recorders. We opted to introduce us to customers by participating in the fair," said Nazmul Huda Ferdous of Richman Informatics.

The fair will be running until January 10, with visiting hours from 10:00am to 9:00pm every day and entry fee fixed at Tk 10 a person except for schoolchildren and the disabled.