The higher committee of the Sharjah Ramadan Festival announced a Dh20 million ($5.4 million) budget for the month long festival.

The budget and the sponsors were revealed in a meeting held under the patronage of Sheikh Sultan Bin Ahmed Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, chairman of Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) and also chairman of the Higher Committee of the Sharjah Ramadan Festival.

“We aim to double the number of visitors and shoppers from within and outside the emirate in 2008, which is highly achievable given the broader confirmed participation of retail and related establishments this year. We will also use the Ramadan celebrations to drum up interest in our other seasonal activities as well,” said Hussein Al Mahmoudi, member of the Higher Committee.

The highly-anticipated annual event will run for 37 days, and feature emirate-wide participation in various social, cultural, religious, sports, environmental and heritage activities.

Several raffle draws that will give away exciting prizes will serve as another major highlight of the month-long festivities, he added.

The festival is considered a major image-enhancing and marketing event for the Emirate of Sharjah.-TradeArabia News Service