OREANDA-NEWS. February 17, 2016. The panel discussion “Organiser, Industry Partner, Exhibitor and Visitor: Closed Circuit or Mutually-Advantageous Partnership?,” which took place on the first day of the Eurasian Event Forum, featured remarks by Sergey Voronkov, General Director of ExpoForum International.

As a prime example of the synergy that can occur within an exhibition alliance, Sergey Georgievich cited the St. Petersburg Import-Substitution and Localisation Centre, which opened at Lenexpo last fall. “This permanent-exhibition format proved its effectiveness in the first four months of operation,” noted Voronkov. “We introduced an industry-week format and held 16 of them; more than 15,000 people visited the Centre and over 400 companies took advantage of the opportunity to showcase their products, representing roughly 32,000 commodities in the centralised import-substitution database.” The work involved is being done by a number of concerned stakeholders: ExpoForum International, the Committee for Industrial Policy and Innovation under the auspices of the St. Petersburg City Government, and other municipal committees, associations and unions.

The Import-Substitution and Localisation Centre is also geared towards the promotion of local exports and the stimulation of foreign investments in the launch and modernisation of Russian manufacturing ventures. These areas represent some of the most important thrusts of 2016 development plans for the ISLC, which is poised to become an even more prominent networking platform bringing together suppliers, procurers, industry-association representatives, government officials and public-organisation leaders. 

As you may recall, the Import-Substitution and Localisation Centre project was first presented at the last Eurasian Event Forum, exactly one year ago.