Negotiations on preparation and holding of the 5pEXPO International Forum of Exhibition Industry jointly with IFES successfully carried out in Brussels

February 21 negotiations on preparation and joint conduct of the International Forum of Exhibition Industry 5pEXPO and the accompanying International Exhibition, International Congress and Russian Conference on Development of the Exhibition Industry, as well as the annual meeting of IFES members, were successfully held in Brussels.

On behalf of Expocentre the negotiations were attended by Deputy Director General Sergei Bednov and Head of the New ExpoTechnologies Department Galina Kalinina. The International Federation of Exhibition and Event Services (IFES) was headed by President Bruno Meissner, Vice President Koen Bogaert, Ex-President Leslie P.C. Zech and Executive Director Gloria Guevara.

The negotiations resulted in a contract that defines the terms and format of the Forum in 2012 in close cooperation with the IFES.

The coordinated programme of all the activities of this unique event will be published on the main website, the website of the 5pEXPO Forum and the Expocentre website. The competent representatives of the two sub-sectors of the exhibition business – exhibition operators, organizing and conducting exhibitions and congresses, and service companies, engaged in the construction of stands and taking on themselves all the logistics in connection with the holding of such shows will meet in Russia for the first time. At the plenary meeting of the first day of the Forum it is expected to see top level officials, the management of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russian Federation and regional chambers, heads of international organizations, scientists and economists, as well as heads of not only leading companies of the exhibition business, but also a large number of Russian regional companies, including those, which are not well known abroad. More than 100 foreign specialists will participate in the Forum.

The slogan of the Forum in 2012 is East for West, West for East. It clearly reflects the main message of the Forum – not only the expansion of business ties between the exhibitors and service companies of Russia, which has already become a tradition of the Forum, but also realization of new opportunities to attract exhibitors from more than 40 countries on the Russian exhibition market!

Foreign exhibitors will be accompanied on the Russian market of exhibition services by their reliable partners – design companies and developers, who know well the exhibition style of their clients and are able to present them on the Russian market in the traditional format with the observance of the high level of national standards of the exhibition construction.

The Forum organizers provided an opportunity for wide informal exchange of experience, knowledge, useful information, establishing of personal contacts, searching for partners.

On the second day of the Forum (June 7) the morning session will include a presentation of the terms of the exhibition business in Russia, mainly on the provision of services to the exhibitors from the USA, EU countries and BRICS for participation in exhibitions on the territory of Russia through the mediation of IFES members.

After that the communication will be organized on a regional basis (the centres of the discussions will be marked with flags of their respective countries / groups of countries). The discussion sessions on the topical issues of exhibition and congress business and adjoining events will be held June 7 in the afternoon. A special youth programme for students of specialized universities and young professionals, which will be finished with a master-class with participation of foreign specialists, also has been prepared.

The annual meeting of the IFES members on June 8 will be attended by members of the Federation, as well as Russian companies, which are going to become members of this organization as guests and observers. The organizers will carry on a campaign through the website of the Forum aimed at attracting new IFES members from the Russian companies and organizations with assistance of IFES. The compliance of the IFES Code of Conduct by members of the Federation is highly emphasized, because it reflects all the best traditions of the international exhibition business: transparency, ethics and mutual benefit.

The IFES management was invited to take part in a press conference in the end of May this year in Moscow on the occasion of the Forum opening. For the first time the press conference is planned to be carried out in the building of the co-organizer of the Forum – the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, which traditionally attaches great importance to this comprehensive show of the exhibition industry of Russia.