subscribe to news Discussions on support measures for congress and exhibition activities took place

The Territorial Development Commission of the Public Council under the Russian Ministry of Economic Development held a videoconference to discuss measures to support congress and exhibition activities as a tool to accelerate socio-economic development and improve the investment appeal of Russia's regions.

The event was attended by Sergey Katyrin, President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Alexey Vyalkin, Chairman of the CCI of Russia’s Committee for Exhibitions, Fairs and Congress Activities and Director General of EXPOCENTRE AO, and Ilya Zubkov, Director of the CCI of Russia Regional Development Department.

The meeting was moderated by Tatiana Polidi, Chairman of the Commission and Executive Director of the Institute for Urban Economics Foundation.

In his report, Sergey Katyrin dwelled on topical issues of development of the congress and exhibition industry in Russia, its importance and challenges.

According to him, as a result of the stagnation of the convention and exhibition industry from 2019 to the present day due to the pandemic, about 70% of companies incurred significant losses, 10% of companies ceased operations, 64% of companies reduced their jobs. Industry activity literally came to a halt in 2020, with a number of exhibition complexes being reformatted as covid hospitals, the head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation stressed.

The industry, it was argued, was faced with the question of its actual survival. However, thanks to the joint efforts and attention of the authorities, the exhibition industry was recognised by the Russian Government as one of the most affected areas of the economy, which determined the extension of a number of support measures to event organisers and enabled them to "stay afloat", but unfortunately, not all, noted Sergey Katyrin.

According to the President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, congress and exhibition activities objectively occupy a special place in the Russian economy. In the current environment, despite the pandemic, it is a unique mechanism which helps to promote regions, their products and manufacturers on domestic and foreign markets, ensures the attraction of direct investment, and develops international economic cooperation.

However, the most important factor limiting the development of the industry remains the underdevelopment of specialised infrastructure in the regions. Sergey Katyrin gave some figures for comparison. For instance, the total area of enclosed exhibition spaces in Russia is 1.028 million sq. m, in Italy - 2.3 million sq. m, in Germany - 3.2 million sq. m and in China - 6 million sq. m.

In recent years the number of regional convention and exhibition centres increased - since 2010 in Russia 12 new venues with a total exhibition area of about 300 thousand sq. m have been put into operation. Although the provision of regions with such areas is not enough, but in the near future for obvious reasons we should not expect a sharp increase in the construction of new exhibition complexes, in the next five years the growth of indoor exhibition space will be up to 7-10%, said the head of the Chamber.

The CCI of Russia’s head made a proposal to recommend that the responsible public authorities of the regions support the industry, drawing attention to the opportunities for the region to modernise convention and exhibition infrastructure facilities and to build new ones, including with the help of public-private partnership mechanisms.

Sergey Katyrin also invited interested agencies, in particular the Ministry of Economic Development and the REC, to combine their efforts in this area. In this regard, the Head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry invited the Ministry to consider the possibility of including interregional and international events, including business missions in online format, the cost of participation in which is subject to financial support from the subsidy, in the relevant regulations already for the next year.

Sergey Katyrin urged the Commission to support the initiatives of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the exhibition community to adopt the Strategy for Development of Exhibition and Congress Activities until 2030 and the Federal Law on Exhibitions, Fairs and Congress Activities as soon as possible, which will serve the further development of the industry and systematize the core processes.

Then Alexey Vyalkin made a presentation about the state of the congress and exhibition industry in Russia and worldwide, stressing that the industry is trying to find ways out of the crisis, including finding new sources of revenue. He noted the effectiveness of the exhibition environment for investment activities, and gave a formula demonstrating the economic effect of participation in exhibitions, citing examples of EXPOCENTRE's activities.

Alexey Vyalkin highlighted a new direction which EXPOCENTRE AO is developing - the StartUp Zone format, which demonstrates and promotes scientific and technological developments, and is an effective tool for finding an investor and connecting unique technological offerings with manufacturing companies.

The head of the CCI of Russia’s Committee proposed the following into the minutes of the meeting: to continue positioning exhibitions as the most effective mechanism for promoting innovation and technology, and also to recommend executive authorities and chambers of commerce and industry to provide organisational support for initiatives of regional exhibition operators to expand their own projects through the activities of start-ups and innovative companies. 

Source: the website of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO