International and national exhibitions will remain canceled tentatively until June 9, the CEO of Iran International Exhibitions Company said.
“This does not mean the canceled exhibitions will not be held. We have rescheduled all of these fairs to be held later in the year,” Bahman Hosseinzadeh was also quoted as saying by Young Journalists Club.
The official noted that the company has set up a recovery center for patients infected with the novel coronavirus in the buildings it owns as part of its social responsibility.
These centers will again be used for holding exhibitions once the situation returns to normal.
“Online spring fairs will continue their sales until the end of the first Iranian month [April 19] to provide essential goods during the outbreak of the new coronavirus,” Deputy Industries Minister Hossein Modarres Khiyabani said.
According to the official, all suppliers are required to follow health and disinfection protocols while offering products to the public, Mehr News Agency reported.
Spring fairs, which were initially canceled across the country due to the extraordinary situation caused by the spread of the virus, have been running online at www.bahar99.ir since March 13.
Ali Rahbari, the head of Commerce Development Center of Iran, says the decision to run the fairs online is aimed at compensating part of losses inflicted on guilds that had planned to offer their products to the public in the runup to the Iranian New Year holidays (March 19-April 3), Fars News Agency reported.
A total of 319 online shops and businesses have taken part in this year’s edition of spring fairs.
Spring fairs are organized every year with the aim of directly supplying locally-produced goods, including rice, sugar, oil, pasta, tomato paste, red meat, chicken, eggs, milk, butter, yogurt, pastry, chocolates, nuts, bags, shoes, apparel and detergents, at cheap prices to the public.
