OREANDA-NEWS. January 23, 2012. ExpoForum took part in the Eurasian Event Forum EFEA, which is held in St. Petersburg from January 18 till January 20, 2012.

This forum, whose organiser is the exhibition research and development centre R&C, was destined to become a communication site, enabling specialists of the meeting industry to establish international contacts and secure investments, as well as to an extent their own business relationships between participants in the Russian market and foreign countries.

The speakers who addressed the Forum were professionals from the MICE industry on the world level: CEO of UFI Paul Woodward, President of JWC GmbH Jochen Witt, CEO of ITE Group Russell Taylor and other experts, among whom there were famous economists, representatives of authority and business structures.

 Executive Director of ExpoForum JSC and General Director of Lenexpo JSC Sergey Voronkov submitted the report within the framework of the round table “Exhibition business – 4-wheeled car: who is the runner?”, in which he told about the importance of exhibition centres for the development of the national economy.

Vice-president of UFI, President of the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs and Vice-president of ExpoForum JSC Sergey Alexeev addressed the panel discussion on “Merger and acquisition in the exhibition market – single transaction or future market?” He also took part in the Expoclub's open meeting on “Exhibition and congress activities as a factor of social and economic development”, which was held during the Forum. Participants of the discussion summarised the results of their activities in 2011 and discussed trends of branch development.

The Eurasian Event Forum became the first large European meeting of representatives of the MICE industry in St. Petersburg in the last few years.