subscribe to news The Committee on Exhibition, Fair, and Convention Activity of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has reviewed the prospects of the exhibition industry

Accelerated recovery of the industry after COVID-19 and measures to support industry enterprises to participate in exhibitions and congresses has become the topic of an enlarged meeting of the Committee on Exhibition, Fair, and Convention Activity of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The meeting was held in a video conference format. It was moderated by Chairman of the Committee on Exhibition, Fair, and Convention Activity of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, General Director of EXPOCENTRE AO Sergey Bednov.

‘The full recovery of the Russian industry is impossible without exhibitions and congresses,” said Vice President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Dmitry Kurochkin opening the meeting. He also focused on what the chamber had done in this field and the tasks for the future. Among other things, the chamber prepared and sent three packages of business support proposals to the Russian Government.

Dmitry Kurochkin informed the meeting that President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sergey Katyrin had put forward more than 100 proposals for the draft of a single plan to achieve national development goals up to 2024.

Chairman of the Committee on Exhibition, Fair, and Convention Activity of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, General Director of EXPOCENTRE AO Sergey Bednov delivered the main report. He noted the complexity of the current situation and the serious losses incurred by the exhibition and congress industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, trade shows continue to be a meeting place for entire industries at the regional, national, and international levels and are an effective tool for economic recovery after COVID-19. They are especially important for small and medium businesses.

"Our priority is to help Russian manufacturers, via international trade shows, make up for their losses as soon as possible by promoting their products at prestigious B2B shows, restore and generate new business contacts, and strengthen their positions in the market," said Mr. Bednov.

The exhibition and congress industry is a barometer of business activity. Reimbursement for the exhibitors' expenses for participation in trade shows and congresses requires serious financial support, including support from the federal centre.

Mr. Bednov stressed that international trade shows were among the pandemic’s victims. According to him, about one third of events were cancelled, about 20% were postponed for an indefinite period, and 45% were rescheduled to the second half of 2020. Many exhibition venues were repurposed as hospitals. The negative scenario of the Russian event market development suggests that the total losses of the industry may exceed 100 billion rubles if it is impossible to resume the events in 2020.

Mr. Bednov is positive that trade shows will retain their importance for this country's economy. The recent experience has shown that online events cannot be a full replacement for "live" networking at an exhibition. EXPOCENTRE Director General emphasized that today exhibition organisers must observe all safety regulations to protect health of all participants of their events. 

“The exhibition and congress activities are a mirror of the economy,” said Director of the Department of Foreign Trade Regulation and Export Support of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade Andrei Tsemakhovich. “The current situation forces manufacturers to look for new markets. It makes the role of exhibitions and congresses especially important.” 

He focused on measures of the Ministry of Industry and Trade to support the Russian enterprises in entering the domestic and foreign markets. Speaking about the measures to support exhibition activities, he noted the transition to the compensation model. Today, Russian manufacturers and exporters have an opportunity not only to participate in showcases that are made up by the Russian Export Center, but also to get reimbursed for the expenses related to arrangement of their own stands.

President of the Russian Union of Entrepreneurs of Textile and Light Industry Andrey Razbrodin talked about his experience working with the Russian Export Center. According to him, the current measures to support the exhibition industry are insufficient. To help the industry to recover, they must include support for exhibition venues and exhibition operators.

Director of the Department of Exhibition, Fair, and Convention Activity of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Department Sergey Selivanov talked about the lessons we had learned from the pandemic. It gave an impetus to the development of online trade shows. However, according to Mr. Selivanov, their participants do not believe that they are efficient enough. That is why hybrid formats will be the ones to develop more.

According to Mr. Selivanov, the pandemic highlighted the shortcomings of the exhibition and congress activity regulations. At the same time it gave an impetus to improve the Federal Law on Exhibition, Fair, and Congress Activity, preparation of draft state standards within the framework of the Technical Committee for Standardization of the Exhibition, Fair and Congress Activity, and first drafts of national standards for these activities.

Other participants included First Vice President of the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs Sergey Alexeev, Executive Director of the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs Elena Ublieva, General Director of the Association of Furniture and Woodworking Enterprises of Russia Timur Irtuganov, President of the Union of the Vyatka Chamber of Commerce and Industry Andrey Usenko, Vice president of the Kostroma Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry Boris Baykov, President of the Union of the Central Siberian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Rafael Shageev, Head of the Ivanovo Region Export Support Center Ekaterina Bolotova, General Director of the Exhibition Research Centre R&C Darya Ostrovskaya, and General Director of Bashkir Exhibition Company Albina Kildigulova.

Proposals made during the event will be sent to relevant ministries and agencies. 

Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO