On June 13–17, ExpoForum hosted the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2023), which brought together over 17 thousand participants and 3,000 companies from 130 countries and territories. More than 900 agreements worth almost 4 trillion rubles were concluded at the Forum. SPIEF 2023 was covered by 4,000 journalists.

 

ExpoForum International and the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs took active part in SPIEF.

 

During the 4 days of the forum, 8 agreements were signed. ExpoForum International has partnered with the Committee for Physical Culture and Sports of St. Petersburg, the Russian Association of Public Relations (RAPR), St. Petersburg Channel, St. Petersburg and federal office of the Vedomosti newspaper. Negotiations were held on the margins of SPIEF 2023, where the parties discussed the outlines of future projects.

 

The Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs (RUEF) will develop cooperation with the Russian Export Center (REC). The Autonomous Nonprofit Organization “Excellence Center for Tourism and Hospitality” signed agreements with both RUEF and ExpoForum International to create a research and education center at ExpoForum, where students and current employees could build new competencies in tourism and improve their qualifications.

 

The SPIEF business program included over 200 events. Sergey Voronkov, General Director of ExpoForum International and President of the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs, took part in two sessions.

The leitmotif of his speeches was business tourism as a driver of economic development and international cooperation.

 

“15% of business travelers account for 40% of all revenues in the industry. Such a tourist spends 3–4 times more money on business trips, is prone to repeating trips and develops competencies in territories. That is why there is a competitive struggle between the constituent territories of the Federation for the key forums,” emphasized Voronkov at the session “Tourism in Russia: Focus on People, Sustainable Development and Investment Appeal”.

 

At the session “Integration for Development: Practical Aspects of SCO Business Cooperation”, Sergey noted that in order to develop cooperation with the SCO countries, it is necessary to increase the number of convention and exhibition events by 6 times.

 

Laura Miguel, Head of the International Equestrian Exhibition “Hipposphere”, presented the project and talked about its key features at the session “Equestrian Sport as a Way of Life and a Promising Business Area”.

 

ExpoForum International’s project managers held numerous negotiations with SPIEF 2023 participants, discussing business program agendas and formats for participation in the 2023–2024 events.

 

SPIEF takes place in ExpoForum since 2016. Every year ExpoForum International provides a venue for the Forum and participates in the events of one of the world’s largest economic conventions.