The Russian Federation of Industry and Trade in Moscow has hosted a meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission on Exhibition and Trade Fair Activities.
Representatives of federal executive bodies and organisations, including the Russian Federation Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs, the Roscongress Foundation, and Convention Bureau Russia, were among those who took part.
Director of Convention Bureau Russia Alexey Kalachev stressed that the concepts of the federal law on trade fairs and conventions proposed to date lack sufficient focus on conventions as an activity.
“This market segment is not considered as independent, just as an appendage to exhibitions, which is not entirely appropriate. We also think that it is important to establish a legal basis for criteria that define the quality of services and qualifications of the participants in those who compete to host events, as this will help ensure the most professional companies participate in the procurement process“, Alexey Kalachev said.
Convention Bureau Russia has identified involves measures to simplify the visa process for international participants in business events that take place within Russia, as this would help increase the export volume for event services.
As Deputy CEO for Organisational Development at the Roscongress Foundation, Dmitry Mikhaylov, noted, the effective development of Russia’s convention and exhibition sector requires, in many regions, the development of the necessary infrastructure.
“The convention capacity of Moscow and St. Petersburg is markedly different from that of other regions. In order to develop this convention and exhibition infrastructure state support is vital, as are enhanced tools for public-private partnership – where the attraction of private capital is involved, since a return on investment in this kind of infrastructure is more complex than investments in commercial or residential property. The passage of a law that not only defined convention and exhibition activity, but which also put in place the corresponding measures in state support, would help facilitate this“, said Dmitry Mikhaylov.
In conclusion, the Deputy Minister for Industry and Trade Georgy Kalamanov, who chaired the meeting of the interdepartmental commission, gave instructions for further work to finalise the draft federal law on exhibition and convention activities to take place as soon as possible within the framework of existing expert groups.