Spring in Gomel International Exhibition: new realities

№ 3, 2020
Heading: EXHIBITIONS
Author:

Over the 20 years of its existence, the International Exhibition "Spring in Gomel" has become the hallmark of the Gomel Region. This significant international event is traditionally attended by the region leaders and Government members, representatives of diplomatic missions, Chambers of Commerce and business community. In 2019, the exposition spread over an area of more than 5000 square meters, representing the products of more than 300 Belarusian and foreign companies. The twentieth "Spring in Gomel" was visited by foreign delegations from 32 countries of the world.

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However, this year's events have made it necessary to adjust the way the exhibition is traditionally held. Under the current economic and epidemiological conditions, the Gomel Branch of the BelCCI decided to hold the largest regional exhibition of the country in a new format. The economic potential of the largest region of Belarus, as well as the proposals of foreign partners, for the first time were presented on the website vesna.ccigomel.by – the electronic platform of the exhibition.

Organized by the Gomel Branch of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and supported by the Gomel Region Executive Committee and the Gomel City Executive Committee, the 21st International Exhibition "Spring in Gomel" – virtual version" was held from May 25 until June 10, 2020. The 24/7-format agenda of the exhibition included multiple events.

The traditional "Spring in Gomel" venues were transformed into three online clusters, such as "Business Spring" (webinars, presentations of products and services of enterprises, online B2B-negotiations), "Gomel Spring" (a festival of craftsmen and artisans) and "Delicious Spring" (a festival-presentation of catering and retail facilities).

Business Spring online platform was the most eventful. More than 250 companies participating in it represented 11 industries (food industry, engineering, woodworking, metalworking, construction, chemical and petrochemical industry, light industry, banking, legal and insurance services, etc.) and 14 countries (Belarus, China, ­Croatia, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, ­India, ­Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, ­Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine).

The new project of the Gomel Branch of the BelCCI was supported by partner Chambers of Commerce and Business Unions. 15 Chambers of Commerce and six Free Economic Zones joined the events of the electronic platform.

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On the very first day of the exhibition, an online roundtable discussion was held with the leaders of the CCIs and business associations of six countries, including the President of the Kherson Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Victoria Ostroumova, the Director of the Gagauz Affiliate of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Moldova, Mikhail Pashaly, the Director of the Ungheni Branch of the CCI of Moldova, Dorin Budianu, Vice-President of the Smolensk CCI, Alexander Kondrusik, Deputy Head of the Center for Enterprise Development of the Bryansk CCI, Sergey Gudovsky, Deputy Head of the Department for CIS Markets of the Croatian Chamber of Economy, Suzana Knezevic, Deputy Director of the Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Atyrau Region (Kazakhstan), Serik Sarsekenov.

During the negotiations on the electronic platform, the Gomel Branch of the BelCCI accepted the invitation of the Samara Chamber of Commerce and Industry to participate in the first International R2R (Region-to-Region) Online Forum – in the sections "Germany" and "The Netherlands". The conference was joined by over 80 participants, including representatives of the Ministry of Economic Development of the ­Samara Region, Chambers of Commerce, business circles, exporting companies Stroomi B.V., The Netherland-Russia Center, Lighthouse Group, Avtovaz Industrial Park, and others. The cooperation issues were discussed; agreements were reached on the participation of the Gomel Branch of the BelCCI in the summer sessions of the forum with representatives of the regions of France, the Netherlands and Iran.

More than 60 companies took part in the training events held as part of the exhibition – five webinars on relevant business topics conducted by Arzinger & Partners, Ernst & Young companies, the Republican Confederation of Entrepreneurship (Belarus) in China, and the BelCCI representative in Spain, Alesya Slizhava. One of the webinars was organized by the Industry of Innovations Company, which signed a cooperation agreement with the Gomel Branch of the BelCCI on the first day of the electronic platform's work.

A series of business matchmaking sessions within the "Business Spring" platform gathered representatives of more than 80 companies from eight countries. The negotiations were held on the following topics: "Food", "Medical equipment", "Non-food products", "Advertising industry", "Legal services", "Agriculture. Packaging", "Auto chemicals". The dialogue resulted in the exchange of information and contacts for further discussion of mutually beneficial cooperation.

The online platform was concluded by the Belarusian-Croatian-Hungarian online meeting, an important event that was arranged following the results of the negotiations held on previous days of the "Business Spring".

The event was attended by the General Director of the Gomel Branch of the BelCCI, Marina Filonova, Counselor for Commercial and Economic Affairs of the Embassy of the Republic of ­Belarus in Hungary, Aleksei Smirnov, the ­BelCCI representative in Hungary, Sandor Makai, the Head of the Department for CIS Markets of the Croatian Chamber of Economy, Suzana ­Knezevic, as well as representatives of the CCI of Hungary and Budapest CCI, and Belarusian businessmen.

The participants of the meeting summed up the visit of the Belarusian delegation to Croatian Zagreb and Rijeka in December 2019 and proposed the ideas on further cooperation development with Croatian and Hungarian companies, including planning more joint events and business missions exchange.

The events of the 21st International Exhibition "Spring in Gomel" – a virtual version" were actively covered by the media. More than 50 articles were published by republican and regional newspapers, Internet portals, news agencies, and reports were aired on television.

The eventful International Exhibition "Spring in Gomel 2020" – virtual version" has come to an end. The results and experience gained are still to be systematized. But today we already have the figures that clearly illustrate the past event.

16,900 VISITS TO THE ELECTRONIC PLATFORM VESNA.CCIGOMEL.BY

124 COMPANIES POSTED INFORMATION ABOUT THEMSELVES

390 PARTICIPANTS OF "SPRING IN GOMEL" EVENTS FROM 14 COUNTRIES

5 WEBINARS – 85 PARTICIPANTS

81 REPRESENTATIVES OF COMPANIES FROM 8 COUNTRIES PARTICIPATED IN 9 INDUSTRY-BASED B2B EVENTS

15 PARTICIPANTS OF 3 ONLINE CLASSES IN BUSINESS ENGLISH

75 CRAFTSMEN AND ARTISANS PRESENTED 10 CREATIVE DIRECTIONS ON THE ELECTRONIC PLATFORM OF THE FESTIVAL "GOMEL SPRING"

10 RESTAURANTS AND CAFES PARTICIPATED IN THE "DELICIOUS SPRING" FESTIVAL