MOSCOW, RUSSIA - At Expocentre Fairgrounds, the VIII International Forum of Exhibition Industry “5pEXPO-2014” organized by the RF CCI and CJSC Expocentre with the support from the Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI), the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs (RUEF) and the Moscow City Government opened its doors for participants. WTC Moscow delegation at the event was headed by its General Director Vladimir Salamatov.

The opening ceremony began with a speech by the First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Alexander Torshin, who passed welcoming address by Valentina Matvienko to the Forum and underscored that within the framework of growing global competition and Russia's membership in the WTO the exhibition industry in the country is as valuable as ever.

“Parliament hearings chaired by Valentina Matvienko on “The legal basis of the exhibition, fair and congress activities as a tool to improve competitiveness and promote domestic goods and services on the domestic and foreign markets” were held recently. During the meeting we have identified specific ways to improve legislation regarding exhibition activities,” - stressed the MP. Torshin explained that it concerns particularly the adoption of the law on exhibition activities in Russia and the creation of the All-Russian regulatory environment in this sphere.

Deputy Minister of Regional Development of the Russian Federation Michael Kruk in his turn expressed certain confidence that “5pEXPO-2014” Forum in its own way is the hallmark of the country's exhibition industry. “I’d like to congratulate you on this truly important event for our fair, exhibition and congress activities”, - appealed to the floor the deputy minister.

President of the RF Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sergey Katyrin noted that “5pEXPO” rapidly becomes an important communicative platform for representatives of experts’ community and Russian business. “A lot of issues that are topical for the work of the association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry were brought to light here, during these exhibitions. Today we are working out current problems of the exhibition industry not only within the RF CCI and Russian business community but also in the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union. The recent meeting of the Chambers of Commerce of the CIS countries in Minsk was also partly devoted to the development of joint exhibitions. I hope that this Forum will allow us to move further in this direction,” – pointed out Sergey Katyrin.

General Director of Expocenter Sergey Bednov also emphasized dynamic development of the Forum.

“This year our Forum already has 120 members. The number of professional users who want to see new products and solutions in the field of congress and exhibition services is growing as well”, - stated Sergey Bednov. He also noted that he has particular hopes on the V All-Russian conference on “Exhibition, Fair and Congress Activities as a Tool to Improve Competitiveness and Modernization of the Russian Economy”, which will be a key event of this year’s “5pEXPO”. “The main goal of the conference is to finally find ways to improve the situation in the field of exhibition services primarily with the help of legal system... I hope that by the end of our conference we will develop independent legislative act for this area”, - summed up Sergey Bednov.

Sergey Alekseev, President of the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs (RUEF), commended the high level of fair and congress industry of the country and noted that the pace of its development is higher than that of the Russian economy.

Honorary President of the UFI, member of the Board of Directors of Hong-Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre Cliff Wallace thanked the organizers of the Forum for the invitation and addressed the representatives of the CCI and Russian government with the request to continue active development of convention and exhibition activities in the country.

Representatives of federal and regional legislative and executive authorities, Russian regional Chambers of Commerce and Industry, unions and associations of entrepreneurs, the largest exhibition and congress organizers will participate in the Conference and the Forum.

World Trade Center Moscow traditionally takes part in “5pEXPO” and offers visitors of the event to review wide range of services offered by WTC Moscow.

For more information on this article, please contact Yulia S. Ivanova, WTC Moscow, at YSIvanova@wtcmoscow.ru.