Exquisite furniture and famed Papyrus paintings and products made of camel skin from Egypt, jamdani, muslin and tangail saris from Bangladesh, decorative items from Thailand, gold jewellery studded with ruby, sapphire, jade and emerald, apparel and melamine products from Pakistan and decorative items from Thailand...

Imagine shopping for such excellent items on the campus of Victoria Memorial, Kolkata, sipping your favourite coffee and munching crisp, fried fish in the backdrop of lilting and pulsating music on a cold winter evening.

Come December 29 and Patnaites will have a rare, pleasant experience of shopping. The 1st International Expo 2007-08 will be inaugurated by famous music director Ismail Darbar at Gandhi Maidan here and it will continue till January 8.

This "one-stop shopping destination" will offer a wide range of the latest and best products.

Addressing media persons here on Friday, M A Khan, managing director of Leo Advertising, the organiser of the event, said: "The exposition will give multinational companies and Indian corporate giants an excellent platform to display their products and communicate with their customers, who, in turn, will get a chance to seek information about a wide array of products."

"Thailand, Egypt, Kenya, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan have confirmed their participation in the expo while efforts are on to rope in other countries as well," Khan said.

The expo will hold cultural evenings in which Bhojpuri artist Kalpana and Indian Idol runner-up Amit Paul will participate.

Another attraction of the expo will be the administrative block of the expo which will be a replica of Victoria Memorial, Kolkata.

The expo will have more than 500 stalls and 20 pavilions. Being sponsored by the official associates, including the Bihar Chamber of Commerce, the expo will have lots of schemes from renowned international companies dealing in electronic goods, entertainment, fashion and lifestyle, sports and fitness, services and even wedding-related items.

The expo will be open from 11 am to 9 pm. The expo, with the tagline "Shopping Bhi Masti Bhi", has been approved by the Indian Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO), Khan said.