ON MAY 20–27, GOMEL HOSTED THE 22ND
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION "SPRING IN GOMEL". FOR THE FIRST TIME, IT HAD A HYBRID FORMAT – IT COMBINED ELEMENTS OF A TRADITIONAL FAIR ON THE PREMISES OF THE RUMYANTSEVS AND PASKEVICHS' PALACE AND PARK ENSEMBLE, AS WELL AS ONLINE BUSINESS EVENTS ON THE VESNA.CCIGOMEL.BY PLATFORM. THE EXHIBITION COMBINED HISTORY AND MODERNITY, TRADITIONS AND INNOVATIONS; IT WAS A MEETING AND COMMUNICATION SPOT FOR THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY AND GUESTS, AN EFFECTIVE PLATFORM FOR ESTABLISHING NEW PARTNERSHIPS.
This year, the central site of the International Exhibition "Spring in Gomel" was for the first time located in the very heart of Gomel – in the Palace and Park Ensemble. This location has deep historical roots.
Gomel has long been considered a trading city. Its business center was Bazaar Square (the area of modern Lenin Square and the adjacent territory of the Palace and Park Ensemble). It was here that fairs were held, peasants and artisans traded in clay pots, vases, brooms, wicker armchairs, and other products.
The city stood on the St. Petersburg – Kyiv highway, had a large pier on the navigable river Sozh and carried out "a very significant trade in bread and salt brought from the southern provinces along the Dnieper and Sozh rivers." Major deals for timber products were conducted there. From the middle of the 19th century, three Gomel fairs were known throughout the district. One of them – the spring fair – lasted about a week and fell on Trinity day.
And now, centuries later, Gomel's landmark place was taken by the International Exhibition "Spring in Gomel". Artisans from all regions of the country came to the Kievsky Descent of the Palace and Park Ensemble – an old path, well-trodden by many generations, from the trading pier (now the embankment of the Sozh River near the pier of the river cruiser) to the Bazaar Square. The main Gomel landmark regained its former purpose.
Craftsmen festival "Gomel Spring" appeared to be the most organic there, linking times and traditions, giving additional tourist attraction to Kievsky Descend. The craftsmen expositions presented a variety of applied art areas: jewelry, blacksmith's products, wooden toys, interior items, ceramics, kitchen utensils, and handmade clothes. On the same days, residents of the city and exhibition guests had a chance to participate in other events in the territory of the Palace and Park Ensemble, such as "Museum Night" and "Sozh Marathon".
For the first time, the grand opening of the 22nd International Exhibition "Spring in Gomel" took place in the reception hall of the Palace of the Rumyantsevs and Paskevichs'. In his welcoming speech to the participants, Chairman of the Gomel Regional Executive Committee Gennady Solovey and Chairman of the Gomel City Executive Committee Pyotr Kirichenko stressed the importance of the event for the business and cultural life of the region.
More than 50 guests of honor – heads and representatives of diplomatic missions, government agencies, chambers of commerce and industry of the near and far abroad countries, Belarusian and foreign businessmen followed the video broadcast of the opening ceremony.
Greetings were made by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to Hungary Alexander Ponomarev, Acting Trade Representative of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Belarus Zalina Kobesova, Chairperson of the Sichuan Association in the Russian Federation and the CIS Countries Zeng Aiguo, Chairperson of the Union of Trade and Industry Promotion Organizations of the Republic of India Priyanshu Ja.
The business program of the 22nd International Exhibition "Spring in Gomel" was traditionally eventful. As it was last year, the events were held on the vesna.ccigomel.by digital platform. Online mode of business meetings has become firmly established in practice and will remain after the improvement of the world epidemiological situation, complementing traditional offline events.
The main goal of the exhibition business program in 2021 was to deepen inter-regional contacts of the Gomel Region. Nine online meetings of the R2R (Region to Region) format were held with the regions of Russia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Ukraine, China, Kazakhstan, and Moldova. Some of them resulted in the signing of cooperation agreements (between the Gomel Branch of the BelCCI and the Union "CCI of the Republic of Mari El", between the Gomel Regional Executive Committee and the Self-Government of the GyŐr-Moson-Sopron County (Hungary).
As a result, the inter-chamber interaction of the Gomel Region with partner regions actively continued in the online format. The challenges became more complicated but the task remained the same – the development of inter-regional cooperation with the involvement of a larger circle of interested businesses. The content-rich R2R meetings showed that this event format is relevant and highly demanded.
The business program was traditionally enhanced by webinars on topical subjects, mainly on strategies for successful sales in foreign markets.
To develop the concept of a newsworthy regional event, a round table "A craftsman: an entrepreneur or a self-employed person. Experience of interaction with chambers of commerce and industry" was held via videoconference on May 26. The event brought together participants from six countries – Belarus, Russia, Spain, Poland, Kazakhstan, and Moldova – representatives of government agencies, business circles, NGOs, chambers of commerce and industry, whose activities are related to the preservation and popularization of cultural heritage, folk arts and crafts, and stimulating the manufacture of modern souvenir products.
The event was an active exchange of ideas, a discussion on promising partnership models for the development of folk arts and crafts. Issues of ensuring self-employment of souvenir producers, expanding interaction with chambers of commerce and industry, as well as the possibility of creating information and communication platforms for the exchange of experience among artisans and the organizations producing and selling tourist souvenirs were discussed.
Marina Filonova, General Director of the Gomel Branch of the BelCCI, shared her experience of cooperation with hand-made experts with the round table participants. "Holding the 7th republican holiday "Gomel Spring", two creative contests for artisans – "Gomel Souvenir" and "A Bird on a Twig", which were founded by the Gomel Branch, – all these are "bricks" for accomplishing one major task. By stimulating the creation of authentic works in a manner characteristic of the Gomel Region, developing original souvenirs for important international events, ordering them for production, the Gomel Branch of the BelCCI continues the systematic work on forming the region's brand image," she stressed.
For 21 years of its existence, the International Exhibition "Spring in Gomel" has become the hallmark of the Gomel Region, one of the most significant international events, in which the leaders of the region and the city of Gomel, members of the Government, representatives of diplomatic missions, chambers of commerce and business take part. "Spring in Gomel" is a demonstration of the economic potential of the region, a platform for business negotiations, sharing views with foreign partners.
The following figures stand for the scale of the 22nd International Exhibition "Spring in Gomel":
488 participants from 24 countries – Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Hungary, India, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Nigeria, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sudan, UAE, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam;
23 events of the business program, including 9 regional meetings, B2B negotiations, a round table with a wide range of participants, working meetings;
4 webinars – 77 participants;
9 regional meetings – 132 participants;
99 participants who posted information on the website, including commercial offers and advertising materials;
11 official partners of the event: Turov Dairy Industrial Complex, GLVZ Radamir OJSC, Gomel Regional Union of Employers, Seismotekhnika OJSC, Gomel Chemical Plant, Rogachevsky Meat and Dairy Factory, MIRTEK-Engineering LLC, Kalinkovichi Meat Processing Plant, Gomel Pharmacy Unitary Enterprise, Gomselmash OJSC, Gomel Palace and Park Ensemble.
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