subscribe to news Maxim Fateev spoke at a meeting of the Board of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

The main issue discussed at a meeting of the Board of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which was chaired by its President Sergey Katyrin, was the Chamber’s role in the implementation of the Strategy for the Development of the Congress and Exhibition Industry in the Russian Federation for the Period up to 2030.

Ilya Zubkov, Vice President at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, reported that Russia’s share in the global market of international congresses is less than 1%, and its share in the global exhibition market is less than 2%. No more than 20% of domestic companies participate in exhibitions in Russia, which is a challenge to the professional community.

According to him, the Russian Federation has 1 million 149 thousand square metres of professional exhibition space. At the same time, 74% of this space is concentrated in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The greatest shortage is in the Far Eastern, North Caucasus and North-Western Federal Districts.

Ilya Zubkov noted the need to create a modern congress and exhibition infrastructure, expand state support tools, provide personnel support in the industry, and adopt unified standards for personnel training by higher education institutions. He also pointed out that the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is involved in the work to address these issues, having a unique infrastructure and competences.

Alexey Gruzdev, Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, reported on the implementation of the Strategy for the Development of the Congress and Exhibition Industry in the Russian Federation for the Period up to 2030. According to him, its target indicators include a task to increase this country's share in the global market of international congresses from less than 1% to 1.5%.

The share of Russian companies participating in exhibitions should grow from 3% to 6.25%, and the number of industry-specific professional standards from 1 to 5. In general, the volume of the congress and exhibition market in the Russian Federation should reach RUB 280 billion in 2030 against RUB 182.1 billion in 2023.

Maxim Fateev, Acting Director General at EXPOCENTRE AO, spoke about the role of the company in the development of congress and exhibition activities. In 2023, EXPOCENTRE Fairgrounds hosted 97 exhibitions, 27 of which are the company’s own brands. The number of visitors was about 1 million 400 thousand people, and the number of exhibitors was more than 30 thousand.

“We retain our leading position in the Russian exhibition industry both as this country's most sought-after central exhibition area and as an exhibition operator working not only at our own venue but also in the regions of Russia and other countries,” he stated.

Maxim Fateev noted that the events of recent years had made significant adjustments to the work of domestic companies in the industry. One of the most noticeable trends in recent years has been the replacement of departed Western participants in congresses and exhibitions. New participants from Russian regions and friendly countries are replacing them. Over the past few years, we have managed to reorient ourselves towards markets and countries that are open to cooperation.

“There is an increase in the number of participants in Russian events from the CIS, EAEU, SCO and BRICS countries. I would like to note that companies from countries that are called unfriendly also participate in our largest events,” he said.

He also recommended that Russian regional chambers of commerce and industry increase the number of their regional group stands and pavilions, taking into account the prospects for the development of industries in this or that regions of Russia. For this purpose, a toolkit has been developed, which allows to assess the prospects for a region's participation in own exhibitions of EXPOCENTRE AO, including on the basis of official data from Rosstat. This toolkit is called a region’s passport.

“Taking into account that today exhibitions of EXPOCENTRE are not only a platform for promoting regional products to new markets but also a full-fledged cooperation exchange, we propose to strengthen our cooperation with regional CCIs in organising business missions to own exhibitions of our company. I’d like to ask regional CCIs to take more advantage of our cooperation opportunities,” said Maxim Fateev. He also added that it was proposed to create EXPOCENTRE’s Club of Regions (a working title) and to discuss the implementation of priority tasks to strengthen cooperation at its first meeting.

The second part of his speech was devoted to the initiatives promoted by the relevant Committee of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.  

Thus, the Committee on Exhibition, Fair and Convention Activity has made a number of proposals for inclusion in the plan of implementation of the Strategy for the Development of the Congress and Exhibition Industry in the Russian Federation for the Period up to 2030, which are aimed at stimulating the demand for participation in events on the territory of the country. According to Maxim Fateev, these proposals are now in the Ministry of Industry and Trade and are being prepared for submission to the Government of the Russian Federation.

Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO
Source: the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry