Industry trade shows and exhibition activities in general are helping to increase connections between regions, especially now that supply chains are being restored. This was stated by the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation Sergei Katyrin in his welcoming speech at the opening of the IX All-Russian Conference on Exhibition, Fair and Congress Activities and the XIII International Forum of the Exhibition Industry “5pEXPO-2023”, held on October 24 at the Expocenter on Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment.

“Today is the case when exhibitionists can talk about exhibitionists, about their problems, about their affairs, about what needs to be worked on,” said Sergei Katyrin, addressing the participants of the Exhibition Industry Forum.

“Recently it has become clear that our entrepreneurs and manufacturers know little about what their neighbors are doing in terms of technology, what capabilities certain enterprises have, and what they can produce. We encountered this when we worked to overcome sanctions, when we restored broken supply chains, when we looked for suppliers. It was then that the governors realized that not only huge international forums were needed, but also regional exhibitions,” noted the President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Before the opening ceremony of the exhibition, the President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry inspected the exhibition, especially emphasizing the importance of developing exhibition sites in the regions. This year at the Forum the exhibition “Exhibition City 5pEXPO” was created. For the first time, the Department of Regional Development of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has formed a collective exposition of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry “Regions”, where regional chambers of commerce and industry are represented: Moscow, Stavropol Territory, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Kirov, Arkhangelsk, Vladimir, Bryansk, Tambov, Smolensk regions.

According to the President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, recently our situation with international partners has leveled off: some of them returned, others did not leave and continued to work. “Our foreign partners continue to work, for which we are grateful to them. They also participate in congress and exhibition activities. We would like to retain those who work in Russia and with Russia,” he said.

Sergei Katyrin noted the work of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the field of legislative activity, which produces concrete results. In particular, in July, the term “congress and exhibition event” was defined at the federal level. In September, the Government of the Russian Federation approved the Strategy for the development of congress and exhibition activities until 2030. “The main reference points have been outlined, but this does not mean that we have resolved all the issues. We, of course, would like a law on exhibition activities to be adopted,” emphasized S. Katyrin.

The plenary session was addressed by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Alexey Gruzdev, President of the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs, General Director of ExpoForum-International Sergey Voronkov, Deputy General Director of PJSC International Trade Center Vadim Subbotin, Deputy Director of the Roscongress Foundation, Director of the St. Petersburg International economic forum Alexey Valkov and others.

The speakers noted that congress and exhibition activities continue to be one of the effective tools for demonstrating and promoting goods and services on the domestic market and maintaining business contacts with partners from foreign countries, but also the basis for building and establishing new business connections.

Press Service of the Chamber