professionally about the event industry
23 january ‘14
'An auspicious city for major events' - St. Petersburg will have a new convention venue
One more convention venue for 7,000 seats will be developed in the Baltic Pearl residential complex in St. Petersburg. This was announced by the member of the Government of St. Petersburg, Chairman of the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg Alexander Prokhorenko at the conference 'Russia - Asia: trade and economic cooperation; the role of exhibition and convention industry in the development of Russia and Asia' (Part 1) that opened the business programme of the EFEA-2014 on its second day.
According to him, St. Petersburg is an auspicious city for business events. 'The phenomenon of the Event Forum becomes a special thing not only for Russia but also for the whole world,' he said. 'As for St. Petersburg, the event industry does not just generate budget income, but also is an important component of the city reputation in the international arena.' Noting that vast experience in holding major events has accumulated in the Northern Capital, Alexander Prokhorenko said: 'We have all the capabilities to hold major business events successfully: a developed infrastructure and a huge number of competent personnel, including in hospitality and services.' He also said that Asian Congress of the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI) is being planned for St. Petersburg . These plans were announced at a recent meeting of the St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko and UFI President Chen Xianjin.
A report on the Northeast Asian region was delivered by the conference moderator, the head of the Trade Representation of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Korea Mikhail Bondarenko. According to him, this region accounts for 17% of world trade, 15% of foreign investment; 20% of the world's GDP is produced there. Integration processes in the region began after the Second World War, but still the three most actively collaborating countries - China, Japan and South Korea cooperate under bilateral agreements. 'Nevertheless, the integration processes are underway,' he said. 'The common bond market started working 3 years ago. All three countries are actively involved in the work of the Centre for Macroeconomic Research and invest billions of dollars in it, to form a regional analogue of the International Monetary Fund, a single bank of the Northeast Asia. Japan offers to establish a free business zone open to American capital and the Russian Far East, and South Korea wants to create a four-sided information and innovation cluster with the involvement of Russia. Consideration is also given to accession of Russia, Mongolia, Taiwan and North Korea to the tripartite agreement being developed now.' For Russia, the Northeast Asia is a new subject of global politics, the spokesman said confidently.
The conference was also attended by Bo Kyung Byun, President and CEO of COEX (South Korea), Mr. Takahashi, Director of JETRO St. Petersburg (Japan), Vladimir Salamatov, General Director of WTC Moscow and Sumati Sudasna, President of the Thailand Incentive and Convention Association (Thailand) - by video broadcast.