"Far-arc" expositions. Trends and prospects

Exhibitions are a key marketing tool in the context of promoting national industry interests. Thanks to many years of experience in project implementation, available practical cases and a well-established mechanism of interaction with foreign partners, the Belinterexpo enterprise of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry works at the world's best exhibition venues and has exclusive rights for participation of Belarusian exhibitors in a number of major international exposition forums.

One of the priority areas of work of Belinterexpo unitary enterprise is the organization of Belarusian expositions in the so-called "far arc" countries: on the African continent, in the Middle East region, in Asia. These states are significant and promising partners for the Republic of Belarus in terms of supplying products, purchasing goods and services, exchanging technological developments and scientific solutions, developing socio-cultural potential and tourism.

Thanks to the Belarusian expositions at international exhibitions, the process of interaction between domestic companies and foreign partners is built up step by step, offering wide opportunities for the development of this promising vector.

Thus, in addition to exhibiting products and goods, Belinterexpo organizes and coordinates a range of business events for Belarusian enterprises, including B2B meetings and dialogue platforms with representatives of foreign businesses, seminars and negotiation events.

Currently, special emphasis in the Belinterexpo's exhibition calendar is placed on international exhibitions in the People's Republic of China.

In particular, a large-scale exposition Belarus. The Taste of Nature has been formed to be presented at the SIAL international exhibition of food and beverages in Shanghai.

In cooperation with the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, work has been carried out throughout the year to organize the participation of Belarusian enterprises in the National Exposition of the Republic of Belarus at the China International Import Expo (CIIE), which is one of the most significant exhibition events in the world. The exposition forum is held under the patronage of Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China.

Taking into account the scale of the China International Import Expo in 2023, which was attended by more than 150 countries representing the regions of Asia, Africa and Europe, the organizers of the National Exposition of Belarus in 2024 have prepared a unique design of the country's stand, which will highlight and reveal the tourist potential from a new perspective, demonstrating the beauty of the Belarusian land. While in 2023 the Belarusian exposition designers slylized it as the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus, in 2024 the theme of introducing the visitors to the famous socio-cultural artefacts of the country will be continued by the presentation of the uniqueness of Belarus through the image of Belovezhskaya Pushcha.

In addition to designing expositions in China, the large-scale work of Belinterexpo is carried out to comprehensively present and prepare the participation of Belarusian manufacturers in exhibition events in Africa.

A number of projects in this area have already been successfully implemented. In April, Belarusian enterprises and companies from the machine-building and food industries were showcased at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair in Bulawayo as part of the collective exposition Made in Belarus. Traditionally, the Belarusian exposition was a key element in the program of visits by representatives of leading government departments and the leadership of the Republic of Zimbabwe and other countries. Special guests of the pavilion were the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa and the President of the Republic of Kenya William Ruto, who got acquainted in detail with the presented samples of Belarusian products and services offered by Belarusian enterprises.

The domestic exposition Belarus. The Taste of Nature was also presented at the international food industry exhibition DJAZAGRO, a key event for industry enterprises in Algeria and North Africa. The exposition demonstrated a wide range of goods and services, taking into account the specifics of the Africa's market, including novelties in the food industry, dairy production, as well as spot trading services from the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange.

Domestic expositions have been formed for the largest international exhibitions of the South Africa region, Africa's Big 7 and SAITEX, as well as for the 9^th Agritec Africa International Agricultural Technology Exhibition and Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, and FILDA international multi-sectoral exhibition in Luanda, the capital of the Republic of Angola.

Structured work was carried out to organize a large-scale Belarusian exposition at InterFood, international exhibition of food and beverage producers, technologies and equipment for food production, and Caspian Agro, a major regional forum of agriculture and food producers, in May in Azerbaijan. An integral part of these exposition forums is visiting of the national stands by the leadership and delegations of the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Thus, this year's exposition of Belarus in Baku was visited by the Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The heads of state got acquainted with the presented goods, having studied the potential of enterprises and promising areas of cooperation in agriculture.

The list of the key trade and economic partners of Belarus in the Asian region includes the Republic of Korea. The country traditionally occupies an important place in Belarus' trade turnover. Belinterexpo offers Belarusian companies and brands a wide range of opportunities to participate in the largest multi-sectoral exhibition Korea Import Fair, hosted by Seoul from 4 to 6 July with the support of the Korea Importers Association (KOIMA), the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA).

The collective exposition Belarus. The Taste of Nature as part of the international food exhibition Food & Drinks Malaysia by SIAL in Kuala Lumpur has become one of the brightest projects in the exhibition portfolio of Belinterexpo. The exhibition opens up prospects for increasing supplies of Belarusian food and agricultural equipment to Malaysia.

Traditionally, and this year is no exception, collective Belarusian expositions are presented at international exhibition events of the INNOPROM project. In 2023, Belarus was the official partner country of the main industrial forum of the Russian Federation, INNOPROM. Yekaterinburg. Continuing the partnership tradition, the Republic of Belarus has become the guest of honour at this year's events. So, the Belarusian exposition under the auspices of Belinterexpo of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry was presented in Tashkent (Republic of Uzbekistan) as part of the INNOPROM. Central Asia. A ­specialised exposition has been prepared for presentation at INNOPROM. Yekaterinburg.

Belinterexpo's traditional projects at exhibition events in Kazakhstan, Armenia and the Russian Federation are also being actively prepared, with the details being available on the official website of the unitary enterprise.

As for this year's novelties, it should be noted that the Belinterexpo calendar plan has been supplemented by Made in Belarus and Belarus. The Taste of Nature expositions at the international exhibitions Saudi Food Show in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait International Agro Food Expo in Kuwait, International Food and Technology in Jordan.

The products of Belarusian enterprises have long been known for their quality in the world market. At international exhibitions, foreign partners increasingly recognize the logos "Made in Belarus" and "Belarus. The Taste of Nature", which symbolize the highest standards of goods and services. The feedback from guests at exhibitions delivers the clear message that Belarusian products are known, loved and expected.

Thanks to the integrated approaches and solutions of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Belinterexpo exhibition unitary enterprise, during the Year of Quality Belarusian products are prospectively increasing their presence in the "far arc" countries, demonstrating confident positive dynamics of development and export potential promotion.