Belt and Road and the International Exhibition Industry is the theme of the 2018 International Exhibition Industry CEO Shanghai Summit to be held from June 21 to 22. In an interview this week with a reporter from Economic Daily and China Economic Net, Chen Xianjin, honorary president of UFI and president of the Shanghai Convention and Exhibition Industries Association, said the summit will invite well-known figures from the global exhibition industry to conduct in-depth discussions around three sections: Belt and Road, new elements of exhibition industry globalization; bringing in and going global, exhibition industry with Chinese characteristics in the new era; and globalization of exhibition enterprises.
Chen said that since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed, the exhibition industry has actively responded and conducted relevant discussion and research over the past two years. As the Shanghai Convention and Exhibition Industries Association is the organizer of the International Exhibition Industry CEO Shanghai Summit, and as he is honorary president of UFI, he has learned that after the initiative was proposed, the international exhibition community needed a process of understanding and digesting the relationship between the initiative and exhibitions. At present, some countries have also raised ideas about this relationship. Therefore, this CEO Summit now has a certain foundation for deeper discussion of the theme.
Another important factor is that Shanghai is preparing for the first China International Import Expo this year. This major policy declaration and action by China to actively open its market also shows that the expo will help developing countries along the Belt and Road integrate more conveniently into the global production system. It is also a landmark event showing the Belt and Road moving from proposal to implementation in the exhibition field. Therefore, this CEO Summit takes Belt and Road and the International Exhibition Industry as its theme and explores the relationship between the Belt and Road and exhibitions from macro, meso and micro perspectives. It will examine how the industry can respond to development needs, where opportunities lie, where challenges exist and where entry points can be found.
Chen introduced that this year's International Exhibition Industry CEO Shanghai Summit will divide discussion of the theme into macro, meso and micro levels. During the summit, three half-day sessions will be used: one half day for macro discussion, one for meso discussion and one for micro discussion.
At the macro level, experts will be invited to discuss the latest progress of the Belt and Road Initiative. They will present to the exhibition community the understanding of nearly 120 countries over the past two to three years, as well as achievements and progress made in Belt and Road cooperation. Leaders from the trade in services department of the Ministry of Commerce will discuss policies and new forms. Overseas experts will discuss how the international exhibition community has responded to the Belt and Road Initiative. These three different angles will provide an overview at the macro level. Heads of organizations from countries along the Belt and Road and from non-route countries and regions such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Europe and the United States will also be invited for dialogue. Leaders from the China International Import Expo Bureau will discuss the significance of the CIIE for better bringing in and going global, and for displaying new international products and advanced business formats through the exhibition platform.
This year also marks the 40th anniversary of reform and opening-up. China will become more open, the door of opening will grow wider, and the intensity of bringing in will increase. Therefore, the industry now needs to explore how exhibitions as a platform can perform bringing-in work in the new era in a better and more valuable way. The international exhibition community should understand that China already has many import exhibition channels that are relatively smooth, and it should understand why China still needs to hold the CIIE. This is an opening measure at the government and national level, allowing people around the world to share the achievements of China's reform and opening-up.
Chen said that a dialogue between international exhibition CEOs and directors of Chinese city expo bureaus is also one of the summit topics on bringing in. Expo bureau directors from key domestic exhibition cities such as Haikou, Hangzhou and Xiamen will be invited to talk with several international exhibition CEOs. This will allow international guests and participants to understand the development of exhibitions in these Chinese cities and how they plan to implement the Belt and Road Initiative in future urban exhibition development. Cities seeking to introduce good international projects may also discuss opportunities with these CEOs. Among the CEOs will be Montgomery, a company that organizes many exhibitions in Africa, an important region for the Belt and Road. Africa's exhibition industry is still in an early stage, so the African exhibition market has great potential and opportunities.
At the meso level, this CEO Summit will discuss management export for exhibition venues. At present, venue management export has become a phenomenon in China and abroad, and some countries along the Belt and Road are also building new venues. Chinese venue management enterprises and international venue management enterprises may face more opportunities and challenges. If business management export is to be carried out, what should the business model be? What are the requirements of city venue owners for management export? What considerations do management companies have? The moderator and guests of this discussion session are operators or senior consultants of large exhibition venues from around the world with extensive venue management experience. They will discuss how professional exhibition venue operating teams can provide cross-border operating services and build international brands for exhibition venues.
The micro topic is talent. Chen said that no industry can develop without talent. In the new era, how should exhibition talent be trained and retained? The summit will invite a domestic exhibition company to discuss its understanding of talent and how it develops talent. It will also invite five senior exhibition professionals under the age of 40 in China to talk about their career growth, work experience and understanding of the growth path for young talent.
Chen concluded that if the exhibition industry is to make achievements under the Belt and Road Initiative, it needs a higher level of understanding, international thinking, accurate entry points and talent to realize those goals.
