WTC Moscow, St.P CCI and UNIDO: UN procurement

WTC Moscow, St. Petersburg CCI and UNIDO: UN procurement for the Russian even-industry

On January 24, 2020, WTC Moscow together with UNIDO and CCI of St. Petersburg held a session on the participation of Russian event companies in the procurement activities of UN. The session was held within the framework of the IX Eurasian Event Forum (EFEA).
EFEA 2020 key topic: «Sustainability code in the events industry. People. Planet. Profit», which the WTC session’s participants explored in relation to the UN procurement activities.

The annual procurement volume of the UN amounts to $18 billion. However, there is a need to increase the procurement volume of the United Nations system. Among more than 10,000 tender positions there are also services related to the event industry, including services of organization, management and catering at international events. The participants in the session indicated the size of this market (Discussion questions: “do Russian companies have something to compete for? what tenders are currently open?”) and presented successful tactics of work on it.

The main topic of the session in the context of the Forum’s theme: "What are the requirements for tender-participating companies, what is the role of the Sustainable Development Goals in deciding on the selection of supplier/contractor: the theme of "green" technologies; gender issues; corporate social responsibility etc.".
The opening address to the participants was given by Mr. Alexander Rybakov, Advisor to the General-Director of World Trade Centre Moscow (WTC Moscow):
“We consider this project interesting and promising. At this special session, we would like to identify ways of working in the procurement system specifically for domestic event companies. We have some good examples - success stories in this direction. But first of all, we need to register on the UN procurement platform. And we will gradually achieve success step by step”.

Mr. Michael Detlefsen, Chief of Procurement of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) explained the conditions for companies to participation in e-tendering. Various tenders are available at the UNIDO website. Annually, about 3000 competitions are held within the industry.
“Company that claim the right to become a service provider must act in accordance with the UN ethical requirements. A comprehensive approach is used for evaluation. First of all, UN specialists are guided by the company’s experience, potential supplier’s activities and corporate governance”

Mr. Maxim Eliseyev, coordinator of the Project "Development of partnership between Russia and UNIDO”, UNIDO:  “Today, at this moment we can see at least 4 tenders on the subject of the meeting industry open online”

Mrs Ekaterina Lebedeva, Vice President of St. Petersburg CCI: “At the St. Petersburg CCI we are ready to provide consulting support to companies in this sector”

Mr. Alexei Savrasov, Head of Section, International Business Cooperation and Public Relations Department of WTC Moscow:
“With a total of hundreds of millions of dollars of purchases in the meeting industry, we estimate our current market share to be at around $5 million (including transportation), which doesn’t look serious enough - we can do better!”

The IX Eurasian Event Forum was held at the PetroCongress Congress Centre (Saint Petersburg, Łodeynopolskaya St., 5) from 22 to 24 January 2020.
487 professionals from Russia and foreign countries such as Austria, Azerbaijan, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, USA, France and others took part in the event. For the first time, a government delegation from Mexico attended the Eurasian Event Forum programme. Delegates of the EFEA 2020 guest country shared their experience in the development of the event industry and business tourism within the framework of the sessions.

Since 2012, the Forum has been held annually in Saint Petersburg. It sets development trends of the event industry. In the nine years that EFEA has been running, it has confirmed its status as a prestigious event for industry professionals. The Forum was held under the sponsorship of the Chamber and Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, with the support of the Saint Petersburg Committee for Tourism Development, the Saint Petersburg Convention Bureau, the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs (RUEF) and the Russia Convention Bureau.