International Forum of the Exhibition Industry 5pExpo’2012. Press Release
The 6th International 5pExpo Forum of the Exhibition Industry was held on 6-8 June 2012 in Pavilion No. 7 (Halls 3, 4, 5, 6) of Expocentre Fairgrounds. It was a major industry event for the Russian and global exhibition business.
The project, run by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation (RF CCI) and Expocentre ZAO, was held under the auspices of the Federation Council of the RF Federal Assembly, the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs (RUEF) and the International Federation of Exhibition and Event Service (IFES).
The Forum attracted participants and visitors first and foremost by an opportunity to identify for themselves the most promising exhibition themes and venues. The participants in the forum shared information about exhibition and conference programmes; and prospect customers found numerous proposals to take part in exhibitions throughout the world, established contacts with their organizers, and hold negotiation with them directly at the forum.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the forum Vladimir Strashko, Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, stressed that the Forum, being held for the 6th time, manifested the willingness of the exhibition business to develop for the benefit of the Russian economy. 5pExpo was gaining prominence, with the number of participants and attention from the global exhibition community growing year on year.
According to Andrei Uvarov, Deputy Head of the Department for Science, Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship, the development and innovation of the exhibition and congress business was a key factor for the promotion of the Russian industry. He pointed out that the 5pExpo Forum would bring practical benefits for businesses in Moscow and throughout Russia.
Welcoming the participants in 5pExpo’2012 Sergey Bednov, Director General of Expocentre ZAO, expressed gratitude from the organizers to the Federation Council of the Russian Federation Federal Assembly and Moscow City Government under whose auspices the Forum was held. He also thanked the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI) and the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs (RUEF) for their support of and participation in the event.
Sergey Alekseev, UFI European Chapter Chairman and RUEF President noted that the 5pExpo’2012 Forum, staged at Russia’s key exhibition venue, had become traditional. He said that the exhibition and the forum demonstrated the development potential of the exhibition industry, which in some sectors had already recovered to its pre-crisis level of performance and continued to gain momentum.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the forum Bruno Meissner, President of the International Federation of Exhibition and Event Services (IFES), expressed confidence that the forum would have a powerful synergetic impact on the industry, enhancing its development. Providing a networking platform for business people from Russia and the world would make the forum an event where participants could demonstrate their potential, and discuss common problems in running exhibitions and congresses and ensuring their safety, as well as many other important issues.
The organizers and delegates of the 5pExpo Forum were also congratulated on its opening by Janos Barabas, UFI Vice President, and Vladimir Salamatov, Director General of JSC World Trade Center.
The forum involved in its work leading exhibition and conference operators from Russia and the CIS countries, delegates from regional Chambers of Commerce and Industry, designers of exhibition and conference equipment and exhibition industry customers.
5pExpo’2012 was record-breaking in terms of exhibitor and international attendance. This year the total floor of the forum has increased by more than 30% and made about 10 000 sq. m gross, while the number of exhibitors has grown by almost 40%. The show floor of about 3 000 sq.m net accommodated stands of 123 companies. The forum was attended by representatives from 32 countries.
Among the participants in the forum were reputable exhibition industry associations including the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI), the International Federation of Exhibition and Event Services (IFES), the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs (RUEF), industry associations, trade unions, chambers of commerce and industry from Russia and other countries.
The participant in the forum also included Expocentre’s permanent partners such as ITE Plc. (UK), Messe Düsseldorf GmbH (Germany), Brno Trade Fairs (the Czech Rpublic), Turkel Fair Org (Turkey) and Russian exhibition companies such as Expocentre ZAO, Expoforum ZAO, GK Restec, State JSC All-Russian Exhibition Centre, VK Euroexpo, Expoconsta ZAO, TVK Kristall-City, Octanorm Rus OOO.
5pExpo showcased the whole diversity of exhibition and conference programmes and accompanying services, highlighted achievements in exhibition technologies, global stand building trends and exhibition design. The show comprised the Suppliers and Event Services Salon.
This year the programme of the Forum served the interests of all involved in the exhibition business: organizers, participants and visitors. The number of feature areas increased considerably as well. Speakers from across the globe – renowned specialists in theirs spheres of activity - highlighted major industry challenges and ways to tackle them.
The first day of the forum featured the Exhibition, Trade Fair and Conference Business: Regional Priorities 4th Russian Conference and the East to West, West to East: Global Trends in Exhibition and Conference Business International Congress.
The moderator of the event was Igor Korotin, Director of the RF CCI Department for Exhibition, Trade Fair and Convention Activity.
The plenary session of the event featured talks by Vladimir Strashko, Vice-President of the RF Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Aleksandr Torshin, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council of the RF Federal Assembly; Sergey Bednov, Director General of Expocentre Fairgrounds; Aleksey Strukov, First Deputy Chairman of the Novosibirsk Region Administration and Minister of Economic Development of the Novosibirsk Region; Mikhail Kalimanov, Deputy Director of the International Economic Relations Department of the RF Ministry of Industry and Trade; Sergey Kotov, Chairman of the Board of the Razvitie Association of SME Supporting Agencies; Viktor Yermakov, Board Member of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Sergey Alekseev, RUEF President; Janos Barabas, UFI Vice-President.
Heads of industry-leading companies took part in the debates regarding the development of the Russian and global exhibition industry.
Aleksandr Torshin, First Deputy Chairman of the RF Federation Council suggested returning to the issue of creating a regulatory framework for the exhibition activity and adopting a legislation regulating it. He pointed out that Russia saw growing exhibition activity and it had certain national features. ‘We have over 180 nations. We hold trade fairs, and a trade fair is always a festive occasion. And we are perfect at creating them. So the legislation enhancing trade fair business should reflect this as well,’ said Mr Torshin.
Speaking of the need to promote Russian exhibition brands, he stressed that Russia’s national brand is Expocentre. It is an ‘in-demand modern venue’. Mr Torshin thanked Sergei Bednov, General Director of Expocentre, for close cooperation with regional chambers of commerce and industry and expressed hope that the Federation Council and Expocentre will continue their mutually beneficial partnership.
The second day of the forum was very busy, with a number of on-topic round-tables and seminars. One prominent event was a round table on the infrastructure development challenges facing exhibition and conference business in Russia’s regions.
Igor Korotin put forward a project - the Concept of Building Exhibition and Trade Fair Infrastructure in Russia’s Regions on the Basis of Public Private Partnership – and a plan to implement this Concept, designed by the RF Chamber of Commerce and Industry after analyzing exhibition activity in the Russian regions.
Sergey Bednov, too, spoke of public private partnership in relation to creating a state-of-the art, economically efficient and tailored-to-the-need-of-the-regions exhibition and conference infrastructure in Russia. Speaking about the development of local exhibition and conference activity Mr Bednov pointed out that Expocentre’s specialists render continuous methodological support, run consultations and training for the personnel of regional exhibition and conference centres.
The position of the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs (RUEF) towards creating regional exhibition and conference centres and insights into the global best practices of public private partnership in the exhibition industry were presented by Sergey Alekseev. He marked the issues of returning the flow of investments into the exhibition industry and promoting exhibitions as an important tool for advancing goods as principal objectives for the sector.
Ludmila Smorodova, RUEF Executive Director, described modern development trends in the Russian exhibition and conference industry. She pointed out that it was key to employ tools maximizing the performance of exhibitions as well as exhibitors’ return-on-investment.
Valery Skrug, President of the Belgorod Chamber of Commerce and Industry spoke about how Belexpocentre Feirgrounds had been established and its development. Vladimir Ponomaryov, President of the Sergiev Posad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told the audience about the role of trade fairs held in small municipalities for the development of local markets, as well as about opportunities and challenges facing local exhibition business.
The discussion was attended by delegates from regional chambers of commerce and industry and exhibition centres including Sergey Voronkov, Executive Director of Expoforum ZAO; A. Pokhaluev, Engineer-in-Chief of Avangard Architectural Company; Oksana Mitina, Commercial Dicrector of Kristall City and Maksim Chereshnev, a Board member of Novosibirsk Expocentre.
Organizing Russian exhibitions abroad and hosting foreign exhibitions in Russia are key sectors of exhibition and conference business. 5pExpo’2012 incorporated a round table on international cooperation in running exhibitions and conferences.
It was attended by Igor Korotin, Director of the Department for Exhibition, Trade Fair and Convention Activity; Sergey Alekseev, President of the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs; Bruno Meissner, IFES President; Sergey Vasilyev, Head of the RF CCI Department for Foreign Economic Cooperation; Janos Barabas, Vice President of the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry; Elena Shabardina, Head of Expocentre’s Hosted Exhibitions Division and Wolfgang Lenarz, Senior Vice-President of Deutsche Messe AG.
The round table also addressed specific issues of customs clearance of exhibition cargoes, as well as technical inspection and stand construction approval procedures at Expocentre Fairgrounds.
The third day of the 5pExpo forum featured a general annual meeting of the International Federation of Exhibition and Event Services (IFES) held in Russia for the first time.
Expocentre joined IFES in 2011 and embraced the idea of running the IFES annual meeting as part of the 5pExpo Forum.
Today IFES unites 1600 organizations from all the continents. The federation members include companies offering a wide range of exhibition and conference services across the globe. Their potential and achievements were put on display at their collective stand during 5pExpo’2012.
The meeting dedicated to conducting the 5pExpo Forum was attended by delegates from 32 countries. They discussed the IFES results in 2011, agreed plans for 2012 and debated strategic issues.
Industry-leading specialists - IFES members shared their insights with the 5pExpo audience regarding new economic trends, environmental sustainability, and innovative educational and training technologies, health and safety challenges in the exhibition industry and other vital issues.
On the last day of 5pExpo’2012 the outcome of the forum was summed up and the winners in the Expodesign’2012. Best Russian Stands Competition were announced.
The competition was run by Hi-Design Professional Club Non-Profit Partnership in association with Expocentre ZAO and Expoconsta ZAO.
It was attended by 25 companies including professional stand builders, creative departments of advertising agencies, individual designers and design students.
The entries of the finalists were put on display as part of the 5pExpo’2012 exhibition.
The technical commission selected the best exhibition stands in terms of design and technology of the 2010-2012 seasons and commended the works by students and young designers.
The first prize in the Best Implemented Stand Design Category went to 4 Vida Exhibition Company, the second prize was shared by Syba Meesebau GmbH and Maxgroup Exhibition Company. The third prize went to Expo Global Group, Vars Exhibition Company and Expoforce Company.
The fist-prize winner in the Exhibition Stand Design Category was Expo Global Group, and the second prize went to Expo Global Group and 4 Vida.
The Art-Stands Category presented unrealized ideas and concepts of stands, exhibition spatial design objects and individual art-objects meant for exhibiting. The first prize in this category was made to Masterskaya-TAF.
The winners in the competition of projects to create and run congress and entertainment events held as part of the Event Service Providers and Customers Salon were ART Polymedia OOO, Euroshow Moscow, Synchrotel, Spin Music Service, Expoconsta ZAO, Montazhnik Expo OOO, Capitel S OOO, Expomeal OOO and ChanteCler Catering.
The 5pExpo’2012 Forum incorporated conferences, seminars, master classes and presentations giving insight into the development of the Russian and global exhibition and conference market, modern stand design and construction trends, innovative equipment and other important issues.
The forum and its programme have once again shown their significance for the industry professionals and exhibition industry customers. They have demonstrated the potential of the sector. 5pExpo will definitely continue to foster rapport among policy makers, general public, researchers and exhibition companies, as well as encourage the development of regional exhibition venues.
Press Service
Expocentre