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Today, the 22^nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of the CIS Chambers of Commerce and Industry adopted a draft decision on the development of the congress and exhibition industry and an appeal to unions, associations and governments of the CIS member states in support of interregional cooperation. The event, held in a video conference format, was moderated by Sergey Katyrin, President at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Chair at the Council of Heads of the CIS Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

In his opening speech, Mr. Katyrin noted that the Council of Heads of the CIS Chambers of Commerce and Industry was established more than 20 years ago. Right now, given the new economic realities, its statutory documents and development strategy need to be updated. This work is already underway during Russia's presidency in the CIS this year.

One of the keynote speakers was Maxim Fateev, Acting Director General at EXPOCENTRE AO and Chair at the Committee on Exhibition, Fair, Convention Activity of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He said that EXPOCENTRE Fairgrounds has maintained its leading position in the domestic exhibition industry for 65 years. It is an organiser of the largest international B2B trade shows and an exhibition operator working in the regions of Russia and abroad.

“Some of our own shows such as Prodexpo (food and beverages), Metalloobrabotka (metalworking), Khimia (chemistry), Mebel (furniture) and such umbrella brands as Russian Health Care Week, Russian Construction Week, Russian Industry Week, Russian Week of High Technologies are well known outside Russia,” said Maxim Fateev.

According to him, it is safe to say that the industry is on the rise, despite the unprecedented external restrictions imposed on the Russian economy. Regular trade shows are showing growth in key indicators. Event organisers representing Western countries, which have left the Russian market, have been replaced by new organisers with their new large-scale projects. According to Russian experts, business tourism, event activities and the congress and exhibition industry make a combined contribution of 2% to Russian GDP. And revenue in the congress and exhibition industry is about 197.5 billion rubles (or USD 2.15 billion), showing annual growth from 2020 onwards.

“There is a transformation of congress and exhibition activity as it is being reorientated towards the markets of countries friendly to Russia. At the same time, Russian experts agree that the main growth of the industry will take place mainly due to the development of the domestic market of congresses and exhibitions and new projects in Russian regions,” explained Maxim Fateev.

The main growth factors should be the creation and modernisation of specialised and related infrastructure in Russia's regions, staff training and the use of information technologies. Surveys of foreign experts in the congress and exhibition industry suggest that the industry is recovering on a global scale. The industry expects revenue growth of 15% relative to 2019.

According to Maxim Fateev, development of cooperation with foreign partners is one of the main priorities for EXPOCENTRE. As far as international cooperation in congress and exhibition activities is concerned, EXPOCENTRE follows the national trend, developing cooperation with friendly countries of CIS, BRICS, SCO, and EAEU, and maintaining contacts with both private enterprises and government authorities. Participation and concern of the authorities to event industry issues are of great importance and help to achieve mutually beneficial results.

Thus, companies from 61 countries took part in own trade shows of EXPOCENTRE in 2023. Thirty-nine national pavilions were organised by 15 countries at 14 shows, including 7 national pavilions by CIS member countries (Armenia, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan).

In total, 37 national pavilions were organised by the CIS states during the period from 2019 to 2023, with more than 470 companies presenting their products.

In addition, Maxim Fateev said that the International MICE Industry Consortium is currently being developed on the initiative of the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs. After the recommendation of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, EXPOCENTRE became a co-founder of the Consortium, the main task of which is to unite efforts and coordinate actions of congress and exhibition organisers of the CIS, SCO, BRICS and other interested countries without restrictions. The Consortium is not an alternative to the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI), but an independent new association, which sets itself clear and transparent objectives. As of today 28 exhibition companies from 12 countries have joined the Consortium, including CIS members such as Belarus, Russia and Uzbekistan, as well as Abkhazia, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, and Tunisia. The list of the Consortium's participants continues to grow.

Dmitry Kurochkin, Vice President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, spoke about the results of industrial cooperation under the auspices of the EAEU chambers. He noted that the development of industrial cooperation within the EAEU is an important component of economic cooperation within the Union. The Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry initiated the promotion of this direction within the industrial policy implementation, which was subsequently supported by Russian and Eurasian authorities and business associations of the EAEU countries.

Other participants in the 22^nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of the CIS Chambers of Commerce and Industry were Denis Trefilov, Deputy Secretary General of the CIS, Dmitry Volvach (recorded previously), Russian Deputy Minister of Economic Development, member of the Council for Interregional and Cross-Border Cooperation of the CIS Member States, Temir Sariev, President at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Kyrgyz Republic, Ermek Omuraliev, Counsellor of the Kyrgyz Embassy in the Russian Federation, Mikhail Myatlikov, Chair at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Belarus, Dilshod Rasulov, Deputy Chair at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Murat Karimsakov, Chair at the Board of the Chamber of International Comerce of Kazakhstan (the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs), Nasimdzhon Anvarov, First Deputy Chair at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Tajikistan, Anatoly Goltsov, President of the Lipetsk Chamber of Commerce and Industry Union, and others. Vladimir Padalko, Vice President at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and about 40 other experts also took part in the event. 

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