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Committees of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry discussed issues of staffing in the exhibition industry

Fri, 27 Oct 2023 14:37:48 +0300

A joint meeting of the Committees on Exhibition, Fair and Convention Activity and on Education and Social Policy of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry took place within the conference programme of the 13^th International Forum of the Exhibition Industry � 5pEXPO 2023 and the 9^th Russian Conference on Exhibition, Fair and Congress Activities.

The meeting was moderated by Chair at the Committee on Exhibition, Fair, and Convention Activity of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Director General at EXPOCENTRE AO Alexey Vyalkin.

The meeting focused on the issues of personnel support of exhibition activities and improvement of mechanisms of interaction between the education system and the business community.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Chair at the Russian State Duma Committee on Science and Higher Education Vladimir Kononov. He praised EXPOCENTRE, the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry\'s Committee for Exhibition and Convention Activities, and the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs for promoting exhibitions related to new technologies, science and education. Vladimir Kononov read out a greeting from Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Chernyshenko to the event�s participants.

In his keynote speech, Alexey Vyalkin noted that the staffing issue is now on the agenda in virtually all sectors. In September this year, Prime Minister of Russia Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree on the adoption of the Strategy for the Development of the Congress and Exhibition Industry of the Russian Federation until 2030. Now a roadmap for the implementation of this strategy is being developed. The issues of staffing are given a significant place in it. The discussion at the joint meeting of the committees is devoted to this trend, which will allow us to outline ways of developing solutions in this area, to coordinate the positions of the authorities, the business community and higher education institutions, and to find common ground that will lead to success.

Giving a brief analysis of the state of the industry, Alexey Vyalkin noted, that �according to the Exhibition Research Centre R&C, the volume of exhibition and congress activities in Russia amounts to 182 billion roubles. At the end of 2022, there were 4,791 companies operating in the industry, having as their main OKVED (the Russian Certification of Economic Activities) code 82.30 which means activities for organising conferences and exhibitions. At the same time, 1,586 of them are individual entrepreneurs. The distinctive feature is the concentration of exhibition and congress activities in the western part of the country. In accordance with the target indicators of implementation of the adopted Strategy, the number of employed persons should gradually increase to 27,977 people by 2030 (now this figure is 19,768 people). It is also expected that the number of higher education institutions that implement specialised educational programmes will grow to about two dozen. It is also planned to increase the number of professional standards to five by 2030.�

The EXPOCENTRE Director General briefed the participants of the joint meeting on the latest UFI statistics, indicating a full recovery of the global exhibition industry after the pandemic and an increased demand for labour resources. Moreover, the issue of staffing for the event industry in the list of factors that are expected to have the greatest impact on the business in the five years to come is steadily ranked second with 54% of respondents\' answers noting it.

Speaking about approaches to the development of human resources potential of the congress and exhibition industry, Alexey Vyalkin proposed to think about the creation of a system of monitoring and forecasting of staffing needs for the medium term, which will allow for timely planning of personnel training, creating conditions for additional professional education, advanced training of managers, and exchange of experience at enterprises.

According to the speaker, the current system of reflecting professional standards in educational programmes does not allow for full consideration of changes in the labour market and creates risks of chronic delays in decisions in this area. In order to solve this problem, employers should take a proactive stance and act as a kind of investors in an employee\'s career.

Alexey Vyalkin also spoke about the useful experience of cooperation between EXPOCENTRE AO and universities and noted the importance of work aimed at professional orientation of their graduates, including through new modern forms of teaching activities and involvement of students.

In her speech, Deputy Chair at the Committee on Education and Social Policy of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Director at the Institute of Business and Executive Education and Advisor to the Rectorate at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics Svetlana Nechaeva gave a detailed presentation on the priority aspects of the professional training of specialists in the event industry.

The experience of creating and implementing various training programmes that develop the necessary competencies of their participants in the field of management of congresses and exhibitions was shared at the joint meeting First Deputy Director General at EXPOCENTRE AO Sergey Selivanov, Executive Director at the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs Elena Ublieva, Rector at International Institute of Management for Business Associations Anna Palagina, Head of the Department of Service and Congress and Exhibition Activities at St. Petersburg State University of Economics Oxana Kostryukova, President at the Union of the Vyatka Chamber of Commerce and Industry Andrey Usenko, Rector at Moscow State Art and Cultural University Ekaterina Kudrina, Director at ConcordBusinessService Natalia Evnevich, and other representatives of higher education institutions and relevant organisations.

Following the results of the joint meeting it was decided to draw up a joint final resolution containing recommendations on priority programmes and directions of activity in the sphere of personnel support of the exhibition industry, as well as recommendations on further improvement of the business education system in the Russian Federation.

Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO

Top managers of exhibition industry discussed priorities of its further development at 5pEXPO

Wed, 25 Oct 2023 14:07:35 +0300

The 13^th International Forum of the Exhibition Industry � 5pEXPO 2023 and the 9^th Russian Conference on Exhibition, Fair and Congress Activities have opened at EXPOCENTRE Fairgrounds.

The event is organised by EXPOCENTRE AO and the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The partners of 5pEXPO and the conference programme are RUEF � the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs, World Trade Center PAO, the Russian Convention Bureau, NAOM � the National Association of Event Organisers, the Exhibition Research Center R&C, Expomap.ru, the exeDrive Acceleration Platform for Marketing Experts, and Komsomolskaya Pravda Publishing House AO.

The opening of the forum and conference was attended by Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Alexey Gruzdev.

Welcoming the participants of the opening ceremony of 5pEXPO 2023 and the first plenary session of the 9^th Russian Conference on Exhibition, Fair and Congress Activities, President at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sergey Katyrin said, �One of the activities of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry system is to promote the goods and services of domestic entrepreneurs to various markets, to provide an opportunity for representatives of companies to get acquainted with the latest technologies, the latest equipment, and to exchange opinions. All this is provided by exhibitions and congresses. At the moment more than one hundred regional chambers are engaged in exhibition activities, and the work in this respect is growing. We have retained a significant part of those who wanted to work with Russia. This is, of course, largely thanks to the organisers of congresses and exhibitions.�

Sergey Katyrin assessed the prospects of the exhibition industry as generally good. He pointed out that many issues of industry development had been resolved in the previous period. For example, the legal concept of congress and exhibition activity was developed for the first time, and the Strategy for the Development of the Congress and Exhibition Industry Until 2030 was adopted at the state level. At the same time, there is still work to be done: the adoption of the law on exhibition activities remains a relevant issue. It is also important that exhibition grounds are created in the regions, as Russia, given its size, clearly lacks exhibition space, and this is one of the priority issues that regional players and regulators will have to be involved in solving in the near future.

Alexey Gruzdev emphasised in his speech that �the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade sees the promotion of the exhibition industry as its priority. The industry deserves special attention and has a cumulative effect. Today we have reached a stable growth trajectory. We need to solve a lot of systemic issues to make this growth long-term and even. We have a lot to do: digitalisation of the industry, expansion of exhibition events coverage, and development of b2b dialogue format, which capitalises the costs of event participants. A very important area is the quality of services. We need to further improve the standards of congress and exhibition activities. Professional and educational standards are no less important. They are designed to maintain high requirements for professionals trained by institutes and employed by companies providing services. These should be modern professionals who are constantly working to improve their qualifications, so that our companies meet the level of global trends and can provide competitive services to foreign participants not only in Russia, but also abroad.�

The Russian deputy minister of industry and trade pointed out the need for a more balanced distribution of exhibitions across Russian regions. �The two capitals host the vast majority of exhibitions and congresses events,� says Alexey Gruzdev. �It is important to go to the regions, it is important that the regional infrastructure is created on the basis of a detailed analysis of regional industry specifics. Rating the event potential of the regions will allow us to do this. It will also help us developing regional standards for exhibition activities.�

Vice President at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Maxim Fateev and Chair at the Committee on Exhibition, Fair, and Convention Activity of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Director General at EXPOCENTRE AO Alexey Vyalkin moderated the rest of the discussion.

The head of the relevant committee of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry separately touched upon the topic of financial support for the industry, focusing on the improvement of support mechanisms for exhibitors and participants. Alexey Vyalkin believes that it is necessary to fine-tune the mechanisms of such support so that they do not impose an additional burden on the budget. It is about redistribution of state funds that are currently allocated to stimulate the participation of Russian manufacturing companies in foreign exhibitions. They should be brought to support participation in exhibitions in Russia. Moreover, the list of such exhibitions should be formed taking into account the topics in demand, statistics of implemented projects and exhibition audits. �We should also look at the programmes that are currently being implemented through regional development institutions, the My Business centres, chambers of commerce and industry, which participate in the arrangement of groups stands and pavilions of the regions,� said Mr. Vyalkin.

Speaking about the development of the exhibition infrastructure, Alexey Vyalkin noted the importance of using the mechanisms of public-private partnership, within which anchor investment projects in the exhibition sector are capable of boosting other areas of the regional economy.

President at the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs and General Director at ExpoForum-International Sergey Voronkov dwelled on the current trends of the modern exhibition and congress industry in his overview for the conference participants. He noted the active recovery going on in the exhibition market and the acquisition of sufficient industry resistance to the challenges faced by companies in recent years. According to Mr. Voronkov, the Russian exhibition industry continues to transform dynamically, absorbing modern technological solutions and new formats of work.

Deputy General Director at World Trade Center Vadim Subbotin spoke about the successful reorientation of WTC\'s business towards the domestic market and friendly countries.

The participants of the plenary session of the 9^th Russian Conference on Exhibition, Fair and Congress Activities also talked about other issues and challenges related to the adaptation of the domestic market of exhibition and congress services to the emerging new realities.

In addition to the plenary session, the forum and conference included several expert sessions: Activation of the System of Standardisation of Exhibition, Fair and Congress Activities; Regional Exhibitions as a Barometer of Development and Export Potential of the Region; Events and Exhibitions. What Factors Shape Market Trends and Tendencies?; and Protection, Evaluation and Introduction of Intellectual Property Objects into Circulation in the Congress and Exhibition Industry.

5pEXPO 2023 and the 9th Russian Conference on Exhibition, Fair and Congress Activities will continue on 25 and 26 October.

Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO

RUEF Moscow office will open at EXPOCENTRE Fairgrounds

Mon, 27 Jun 2022 16:44:11 +0300

June 24, during the anniversary General Meeting of the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs RUEF President Sergey Voronkov announced an official decision to open a RUEF Representative Office in Moscow at EXPOCENTRE Fairgrounds in the near future.

This decision was taken by the heads of the Union and was approved by President at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chair at the EXPOCENTRE Board of Directors Sergey Katyrin in view of the increased number of tasks currently facing RUEF.

Announcing the decision, Sergey Voronkov noted that �having such an office will make all RUEF participants feel at home at EXPOCENTRE�. In his turn, Director General at EXPOCENTRE Alexey Vyalkin assured that the team of EXPOCENTRE will do its best to create a comfortable environment for productive work.

Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO

MICE Networking Forum featured a panel discussion on the role of exhibitions in economy strengthening

Tue, 28 Jun 2022 15:41:35 +0300

A wide range of issues of concern to the exhibition industry today was addressed at the MICE Networking Forum panel discussion at Expocentre Fairgrounds. The central theme of the event was \'Exhibitions as an effective tool to strengthen the economy in the face of external sanctions pressure\'.

The moderator of the discussion, Sergey Voronkov, President of the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs (RUEF) and General Director of ExpoForum-International OOO, speaking about the scale and importance of the industry, noted that more than 4,500 companies work in the national exhibition industry today, with another 82,000 service companies supporting their activities. Over 300,000 people work in this sphere. "Exhibitions and congresses generate 3.5 trillion rubles, i.e. 3% of the GDP. Over 10,000 events are held. Last year there were 200 less," said the head of the RUEF.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Alexey Gruzdev reported that today�s agenda discusses the list of additional measures of support for the exhibition industry, many programmes are under development. On its turn, the industry is formulating its demand to be heard and supported.

President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin, Director General of R&C Darya Ostrovskaya, President of the Economic Research Foundation Mikhail Khazin, Vice President of the Russian Export Centre Alexey Solodov, Advisor to the Director General of Gazprombank\'s electronic trading platform Yuri Philippovsky and his colleague Timur Manukyan, Director of the International Centre for Joint Initiatives Alexey Kalachyov, President of the Russian Union of Metal Suppliers Alexander Romanov, President of Souzlegprom Andrey Razbrodin took part in the discussion.

They discussed measures of state support for the exhibition industry, its development strategy, exhibition market trends in the face of sanctions, changes in exhibition formats, opportunities of electronic trading platforms to build effective mechanisms for import substitution in cooperation with exhibition projects, and other aspects of fundamental importance.

The discussion was concluded by Alexey Vyalkin, Chairman of the Committee on Exhibition, Fair and Congress Activities of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vice President of the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs, Director General of EXPOCENTRE AO. He shared the results of expert sessions, which ended the day before the 12^th International Forum of Exhibition Industry 5pEXPO and the plenary session was held by EXPOCENTRE AO jointly with the Committee on Exhibition, Fair and Congress Activities of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

At the expert session "Finance for business: measures and instruments of state support of the industry", the work done by the industry community represented by RUEF, RSPP and the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry to prepare support measures for the exhibition industry was noted. The list of measures is currently compiled and is being agreed upon by the competent authorities. In addition, the session participants noted the urgent need to apply support measures at the level of regional executive authorities within their competence, including preferential taxation, crediting, support for employment of enterprises in the field of congress and exhibition activities, said Alexey Vyalkin.

He also said that representatives of the exhibition community and chambers of commerce and industry in the regions came up with a proposal to expand the mechanism of state order in the industry. This means that decisions can be taken at the level of government agencies to hold various business industry events not only in Moscow and St Petersburg, but also in those regions which are currently leaders in terms of volume and competencies in particular industries.

The digitalisation of participation in exhibitions and business missions with state support today also contributes to a significant increase in the number of participants in the events, said the head of EXPOCENTRE AO. According to him, the proposals of the profile committee of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry are to redistribute the released funds from co-financing of participation in exhibitions in countries unfriendly today to support the participation of domestic companies in the exhibition forums in Russia.

Another important topic for all exhibition organisers is the system for selecting projects for funding through the Industry Development Fund and development institutes. It was discussed during the expert session, which was provisionally titled �B2i (business to investor) - exhibitions as a catalyst for investment activity�. "In this new format, we are ready to present investment projects of our exhibitors to potential major investors. All this will broaden the range of partners, which is why exhibitions are held," explained Alexey Vyalkin and thanked colleagues for their participation in the discussion.

Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO

RUEF determines the best directions for international cooperation

Fri, 24 Jun 2022 14:58:54 +0300

The 6^th MICE Networking Forum is continuing within the General Meeting of the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs (RUEF) at EXPOCENTRE Fairgrounds. Today it offers a Panel Discussion on International Cooperation in the New Realities.

The panel was moderated by Sergey Alexeev, RUEF First Vice-President and Honorary President of the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI). He described the current export-import situation, sanctions restrictions and the extent of their impact on congress and exhibition activities. He called the sanctions imposed by UFI on Russian exhibition companies discrimination on national grounds and urged to actively resist this state of affairs.

On behalf of RUEF Sergey Alexeev voiced proposals for the development of the industry in the current environment. They include creating a new international strategy for the development of the Russian exhibition and congress industry; developing cooperation with the government and industry associations of entrepreneurs from different countries; focusing on cooperation with the CIS countries, BRICS, the CIS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, countries of the Asia-Pacific Region, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America; creating a congress and exhibition consortium and an MICE industry association on this basis; continuing the dialogue with UFI representatives; protecting Russian exhibition companies and their representatives on the markets of unfriendly countries, and other proposals.

Representatives of the Business Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the CIS Executive Committee, several countries\' exhibition organisations and other participants both online and in the forum hall contributed to the discussion.

Watch the broadcast

Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO

5pEXPO discussed promotion of Russian products through exhibitions and congresses

Mon, 27 Jun 2022 16:34:05 +0300

Within the framework of 5pEXPO forum an expert session on "Promotion of Russian manufacturers through exhibitions and congresses: new realities" was held. The moderator of the event, the head of Expomap.ru, the author and presenter of "Opinions of event-industry leaders" Evgeniya Sablina noted that the departure of big foreign players from the Russian market, breaking up of logistic chains lead to increased interest in the exhibition and congress events. At the same time, the reduction of companies\' budgets for promotion leads to serious changes both in the organisation of exhibitions and in approaches to participation in them.

Among the latest exhibition trends, session participants noted an increase in visitor audience, interest in highly specialised business events, interest in budget participation formats, participant interest in business support programmes and much more.

Participants in the discussion noted that manufacturers want to participate in exhibitions, but they are now set up for results. Going to an exhibition just for the sake of image is no longer relevant.

Timur Irtuganov, Director General of the Association of Enterprises of Furniture and Woodworking Industry of Russia (AMDPR), spoke about the situation in the furniture industry.

According to him, there are two main trends at furniture exhibitions today: new technologies and "green agenda". Of course, the key to success for a furniture manufacturer is correct positioning and special attention to design. When asked what the exhibition organisers need to do to persuade those companies who refuse to participate, Timur Irtuganov noted that they can only be persuaded by the example of other companies\' participation.

Sagid Zaremukov, Director of the National Congress Bureau, spoke about the new formats of the organisation.

Viktoria Shmatkova, founder and head of ZERTS Company, D-ZERTS Medical Consulting Agency and ZERTS School, shared her experience in promoting medical equipment and furniture through participation in exhibitions.

Alexander Izyukov, Director of NPP Powder Technology, spoke about his experience of participating in the Metalloobrabotka exhibition. According to his calculations, about 10 per cent of all new contacts at the exhibition are converted into contracts.

Yulia Shishkina, Director of the Department for Implementation of Special Projects at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, spoke about the promotion of family entrepreneurship

Dmitry Kuzin, Vice President of the Vladimir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, drew attention to regional programmes to support participants.

Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO

The MICE Networking Forum is looking for solutions

Fri, 24 Jun 2022 10:57:21 +0300

The 5^th MICE Networking Forum was held within the General Meeting of the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs.

The forum was moderated by presenter at business events, conferences and forums, managing partner at the TOP Moderator community Grigoriy Ayriev and General Director of the R&C Exhibition Research Center Darya Ostrovskaya.

In his opening address President of the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs Sergey Voronkov said that the last two years had changed our life and the previously developed strategy for the development of congress and exhibition activities until 2025 now needed to be updated. "It is our common task," he said.

The forum was held like a business game. Its participants tried to find the best solutions to real industry problems.

Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO

5pEXPO 2022 introduced IT solutions for the exhibition industry

Fri, 24 Jun 2022 10:26:46 +0300

IT solutions for the exhibition industry. Challenges and opportunities was the topic of an expert session at the 12 edition of the International Forum of the Exhibition Industry � 5pEXPO 2022. The event was moderated by Chair at the Council of the Digital Economy Development Fund German Klimenko.

According to experts, the departure of a number of Western IT companies will not cause panic in the market. The exhibition industry has something to fall back on: the register of Russian software already contains almost 13 thousand domestic software products.

Ivan Mishchenko, founder of Registration and Accreditation Systems, speaking about import substitution, noted that foreign platforms had never been widely used in the market due to the location of servers abroad. "The products that the market now requires are already available on the Russian market. Almost all the needs are covered. Any organiser of an exhibition or business event can find a variety of solutions that will cover absolutely all needs," said Mr. Mishchenko.

Vladimir Kravchenko was representiung the Event Rocks platform. He introduced a mobile app for organising and running events, congresses and exhibitions. The app combines within one ecosystem the automation of marketing, CRM, participant database management, website and landing page builders, digital tools for entertainment and participant engagement, mailing services, ticket purchase and registration, networking services, and much more.

President at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sergey Voronkov has summed up the session�s results. He pointed out that there are currently about 30 industry-specific software, but they are intended for specific needs, whereas a universal national platform is required. It is currently in development.

Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO

Joint meeting of 5pEXPO and the Committee on Exhibition, Fair and Convention Activity discussed the industry�s new realities

Fri, 24 Jun 2022 14:29:23 +0300

Today�s plenary session of the 12^th International Forum of the Exhibition Industry 5pEXPO was held jointly with a meeting of the Committee on Exhibition, Fair and Convention Activity of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the topic of From Import Substitution to Import Transformation: Exhibition and Congress Activities as a Factor of Russian Business Development. These events are part of the programme of the 30^th anniversary of the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs held at EXPOCENTRE Fairgrounds.

The joint plenary meeting was moderated by Alexey Vyalkin, Chair at the Committee on Exhibition, Fair, and Convention Activity of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vice President at the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs, and   Director General at EXPOCENTRE AO. According to him, the history of EXPOCENTRE is tightly bound to the history of RUEF. EXPOCENTRE was involved in the creation of RUEF, and their joint activities contributed to the establishment and development of the exhibition and congress industry in Russia.

To coincide with the 30th anniversary of RUEF, EXPOCENTRE and the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry have held an extraordinary 5pEXPO Forum. The need for it was dictated by the situation that is emerging now due to the well-known changes and strongly affecting the exhibition industry due to the departure or suspension of many foreign companies in our country, including event organisers and exhibitors, said Alexey Vyalkin.

He recalled that between March 2019 and March this year, more than 70% of the companies involved in the industry incurred significant losses, 10% went out of business and 64% cut jobs. Therefore, the choice of the general topic of 5pEXPO and its four main expert sessions, which preceded the plenary session, was driven by the urgency of maintaining the industry\'s development vector in the current extreme conditions and the search for new formats and areas of work, explained Alexey Vyalkin.

The expert sessions discussed extremely important issues of promoting Russian products through trade shows and congresses in the new environment, further digitalisation of the industry, using trade shows to attract investment and promote innovative products, start-ups and new developments, as well as challenging issues of interaction with the authorities and improving the effectiveness of state support measures, said Mr. Vyalkin.

He then gave the floor to Sergey Katyrin, President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It is difficult to overestimate the role of RUEF in exhibition activities. Without having any legislative base, RUEF managed to bring order to the country\'s exhibition activities, the whole work of the industry was built independently, said the head of the Chamber.

Speaking about what needs to be done together in the coming period, Sergey Katyrin noted the need to preserve the ties that have been built up, including with Western countries, because every quarrel always ends in peace, which sooner or later will come and it will be necessary to build ties. They will also have to work with us, he added.

In his opinion, new regions and new markets should also be developed. These are the African continent, the Pacific region, and Latin America. Another area where we should move forward is the use of trade shows to attract investment and promote new investment projects. And, of course, exhibition activities need a legal framework in the form of an appropriate federal law, says the Chamber�s President.

Continuing the meeting, Alexey Vyalkin in his turn also underlined that interaction with the legislative authorities plays a great role for the exhibition community. The Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has developed a draft Federal Law on Exhibition, Fair and Congress Activities. The moderator expressed a general hope that this draft law would be considered by the State Duma in its forthcoming autumn session.

Deputy Chair at the Russian State Duma Committee on Science and Higher Education Vladimir Kononov stated that �there are many events taking place at EXPOCENTRE Fairgrounds this week, in particular it is RENWEX 2022. Renewable Energy and Electric Vehicles, where we are holding our own events�.

As a recently elected Chair at the Central Council of VOIR � the All-Russian Society of Inventors and Rationalizers, Vladimir Kononov said he was looking forward to cooperation between EXPOCENTRE, the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and VOIR. Alexey Vyalkin and Vice President at the Chamber Maksim Fateev joined the Presidium of the VOIR Central Council. �I would like to see EXPOCENTRE as the main venue showing the best developments of Russian inventors. Maybe we can hold a big annual show of achievements of Russian innovators�, said Mr. Kononov. He also mentioned such an important area for expanding cooperation as the joint project NTI-EXPO (Science-Technology-Innovations-Expo), which already includes five large-scale congresses and trade shows: Russian Week of High Technologies, RENWEX, Russian Industry Week, Artificial Intelligence Forum, and Russian Healthcare Week. A number of these congresses and shows are currently prepared to be included in the official activities of the Decade of Science and Technology.

RUEF President and Director General at ExpoForum-International Sergey Voronkov shared his impressions of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that was held at the ExpoForum venue. He said that, despite the political agenda, this year�s SPIEF had been filled with economy related issues the most in comparison with all the previous ones. This year, a record six trillion roubles worth of deals were struck at the forum. In his view, this confirms the importance of congresses and trade shows as a unique opportunity for productive negotiations on commercial deals, including in the area of import substitution.

The RUEF President also noted that the Union aims to give the exhibition industry a legitimate status in the state policy as one of the strategic industries. �As a consequence, our main task is to maintain and increase the number of events held,� he said.

Chair at the Expert Council for Investment Projects of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry\'s Council for Financial, Industrial and Investment Policy, and Managing Partner at Forpost Solutions Artyom Kudrin drew attention to the question of how to make a trade show attractive to investors.

Nikita Kuznetsov, Project Director at the Advanced Manufacturing Technologies, Nuclear and Space Technologies Cluster of the Skolkovo Foundation, expressed his opinion on the importance of participation in specialized high-tech show at EXPOCENTRE, such as Metalloobrabotka, Photonics, and others.

Ivan Kovsh, President at the Laser Association, spoke about plans for the future development of EXPOCENTRE\'s high-tech show Photonics, noting that over the past 16 years it had tripled in area and doubled in number of exhibitors, despite any crises.

Executive Director at the National Congress Bureau Sagid Zaremukov agreed with the opinion of his colleagues that "congress and exhibition activities and the entire event industry have always, and even more so now, in conditions of turbulence, been one of the most effective tools for developing sectors of the economy and establishing economic, business and investment ties". Business events, he said, in today\'s environment are designed to provide business communication for the formation and import substitution in the Russian market, and for the establishment of new business ties in foreign markets.

Vadim Subbotin, WTC Deputy General Director, spoke on behalf of the World Trade Center, which is a traditional partner of EXPOCENTRE in holding 5pEXPO. He shared his company�s experience of holding large-scale congresses and forums.

Chair at the Council of the Digital Economy Development Fund German Klimenko, Head at Expomap Evgeniya Sablina, and Deputy Chair at the Committee on Exhibition, Fair, and Convention Activity of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and First Deputy Director General at EXPOCENTRE AO Sergey Selivanov spoke about the results of the 5pEXPO expert sessions on the topics of IT solutions for the exhibition industry. Challenges and opportunities; Promotion of Russian manufacturers through exhibitions and congresses: new realities; and Finances for business: measures and tools of state support of the industry.

The joint meeting was followed by the signing of a cooperation agreement between EXPOCENTRE AO and Kuzbass Fair OOO. The parties agreed on long-term cooperation in joint organisation of trade shows and congresses both in Moscow and in the regions of Russia.

The agreement provides for joint work in Russian regions and abroad with the involvement of regional exhibition centres, which are RUEF members, to use the experience and capabilities of EXPOCENTRE to promote Russian-made goods, technologies and services in Russian regions and abroad. Information cooperation will also be carried out, including prompt exchange of information on trade shows and congresses held by EXPOCENTRE and Kuzbass Fair.

The agreement was signed by Director General at EXPOCENTRE AO Alexey Vyalkin and Director General at Kuzbass Fair OOO Vladimir Tabachnikov.

Watch the broadcast

Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO

5pEXPO 2022: new exhibition format for investors and project creators

Mon, 27 Jun 2022 11:11:47 +0300

The expert session "B2I exhibitions as a catalyst for investment activity - invest in development!" was held at the 12^th International Forum of Exhibition Industry 5pEXPO at Expocentre Fairgrounds.

The moderator of the session, Artyom Kudrin, Chairman of the Expert Council for Investment Projects of the CCI RF Council for Financial, Industrial and Investment Policy and Managing Partner of FORPOST Solutions, noted the importance of the topic of the event, where decisions that are taken on an investment project were considered.

Right now, said the moderator, investors are in a rather difficult situation. The old investment tools are not saving the day. The investment market is alive and well and is actively moving to Russian investors: programmes aimed at import substitution are being developed, incentives are being launched. The main projects now in the works are designed for domestic demand. "EXPOCENTRE AO introduces the term B2I (business to investor), which offers a new format of interaction for investors and project creators. It is the exhibitions that can become an additional catalyst for investment activity in the country.

The moderator outlined two main issues: first, how interesting and promising exhibitions are as a platform for investors and projects to meet, and second, the exhibition as a platform where support measures are provided for a specific industry and exhibition theme.

Dmitry Kurochkin, Vice President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, made opening remarks. He told about practical experience in the system of chambers of commerce and industry in terms of investment activities. The CCI of Russia has been dealing with attraction of investments and development of innovative entrepreneurship for over 10 years. Exhibition and fair activity is one of the important directions.

"The CCI system has a project that represents a two-way conveyor belt for investment projects. We are approached by the regions to find investors, and the investors themselves offer the available resources. All regional and municipal chambers, committees and councils are involved in this system. The 122 chambers out of the country\'s 170 are involved in attracting investment. 64 territorial chambers are working in the field of innovation, in the protection of intellectual property rights. Every year about 300 strategic sessions are held, the project turnover is around 1,000 investment projects, one third of which are innovative," said Dmitry Kurochkin. He drew attention to the fact that the Chamber regularly takes part in exhibitions and organises presentations of investment potential of the Russian regions with the participation of the President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Governor.

The discussion was continued by Ivan Kovsh, President of the Laser Association. In particular, he referred to the experience of the Photonics. World of Lasers and Optics. In his opinion, the exhibition is an effective mechanism of the industry development. Virtually everything new that is being done in this industry is presented there, which arouses great interest among users. 60-80% of all contracts during a year are concluded due to participation in the exhibition. Various funds are presented at the exhibitions. The head of LAS noted that EXPOCENTRE AO, as an operator, is always ready to assist the exhibition in every way.

Nikita Kuznetsov, Project Director of the Advanced Manufacturing, Nuclear and Space Technologies Cluster of the Skolkovo Foundation, elaborated on the development of the Foundation and the challenges it faces, as well as the assistance provided to Skolkovo Foundation companies. The Fund has more than 3,500 startups. He pointed out four main areas: industrial, nuclear and space technology cluster, medical technology cluster and energy efficiency technology cluster. "Skolkovo is a well-developed system where interaction with our partners, collaborative centres, where companies can order some kind of service takes place on one platform," the speaker said.

Vladimir Gamza, Chairman of the Council for Financial-Industrial and Investment Policy of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, delivered a report "Industrial renovation of Russia\'s economy". This topic, according to the speaker, would be useful for many exhibitors. "Today it is impossible to instantly build a new industry. It is necessary to resolve the issue of renovation of those industrial enterprises which were built during the Soviet era. They have a very good basis for re-equipping production with modern products as part of import substitution. They have production sites, necessary infrastructure, sufficient staff and suppliers. Within 5 years, it is possible to substitute imports from what we have lost today".

Tatiana Repina, Director of Public Relations of the Foundation for Promotion of Small Business Lending in Moscow, presented the report at the session. She described what the Fund does, stressing that the efficiency of the Fund is the highest in the country.

In conclusion, Vladimir Gubernatorov, Deputy Director General of EXPOCENTRE AO, thanked all speakers for interesting presentations and noted that holding this event with the participation of professionals was very important. There is a growing number of organisations which are interested in having Expocentre Fairgrounds as a venue to work on issues related to investment and new projects.

Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO