Promoting regional MICE resources integration among the BRICS countries

From November 5-10， following the political effect of BRICS Xiamen Summit 2017， sponsored by Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Convention and Exhibition Affairs， and jointly held by Hong Kong Trade Development Council， the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute， Taiwan Exhibition Convention Association， the International Congress and Convention Association， and China Convention/Exhibition/Event Society， the 2017 Xiamen International MICE Week was held in Xiamen， welcoming 1，500 industry delegates from BRICS countries and Asian countries.

As a major highlight forum of the Week this year， on the morning of 6 November， the 2017 International （BRICS） MICE Cooperation Forum with\"implement the BRICS Summit consensus， promote MICE exchange and cooperation\" as the theme was jointly held by Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Convention and Exhibition Affairs， and the exhibition associations from BRICS countries namely China， Brazil， Russia， Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Convention and Exhibition Affairs Ms Yang Shaojing pointed out that as the first of its own kind， the Forum was aimed to further deepen the MICE resources exchange among BRICS countries. The meeting was moderated by China City Convention Exhibition Associations Alliance President Zheng Zhi.

Deputy President of Trade Development Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce Han Shengjian made a keynote speech on \"build a platform for pragmatic cooperation， join hands with BRICS countries to create prosperity\". He introduced the situation of economic cooperation between China and other BRICS countries through conferences and exhibitions， and encouraged institutions to uphold the \"open， inclusive， cooperative， win- win\" spirit and to use the exhibition industry as an important means of economic exchanges and cooperation for the world economy’s continuous growth and prosperity.

President of EXSA Doug Rix sent a video message entitled “South Africa Exhibition Industry Report” to share about authoritative information about the MICE industry development environment in South Africa.

CEO of UBRAFE Jo？o Miguel Taveira Pinto De Nagy gave a speech themed “Business Fairs——the perfect platform for the One Belt One Road Initiative”. He described the development of Brazilian convention and exhibition economy as \"an awakening giant\". President of Indian Exhibition Industry Association KV Nagendra Prasad spoke on Indian MICE Environment Policy and Development Trend. Vice President of Russian Exhibition Federation Baranov Aleksandr shared about Russia MICE and BRICS country development prospects.

In the afternoon of the same day was the International （BRICS） MICE Cooperation Mechanism Seminar. Participants reached and signed \"Xiamen Consensus of the BRICS Convention and Exhibition

Cooperation Forum\" on advancing the cooperation of the BRICS nations in exhibitions and conventions and on building an exchange forum for the economic and trade cooperation among the BRICS nations through cooperation in the convention and exhibition industry. Key points are： Building Close Partnership for Convention and Exhibition Cooperation. Enhancing the Authoritativeness of the International （BRICS） MICE Cooperation Forum. The Forum resolves that starting in 2018， heads of the regulatory authorities of the convention and exhibition industry in the BRICS nations will be invited to attend International （BRICS） MICE Cooperation Forum. Making the International （BRICS） MICE Cooperation Forum a Regular Event. Expanding the Cooperation between the BRICS Nations and the Rest of the World in Conventions and Exhibitions. Strengthening Cooperation in Convention and Exhibition Information and Ensuring Information Exchange and Sharing. Expanding Substantive Cooperation of the Convention and Exhibition Industries of the BRICS Nations to Promote Common Prosperity.

In the same time， on November 6th afternoon was the promotion and docking session. Several exhibition companies introduced their business profile， and in the project docking session， more than 150 domestic and foreign exhibition representatives docked with more than 200 Xiamen exhibition enterprises face to face. Among them， organized by China International Conference and Exhibition magazine agency， the 2017 International （BRICS） MICE Cooperation Forum trade buyer group contained high profile international organizers including COMEXPOSIUM， Informa， E.J.Krause Associates， Messe Stuttgart， ITE， and TargiKielce. The docking representatives were well pleased with the business effect and gave a high evaluation for the session.

Zheng Zhi， President of China City Convention Exhibition Associations Alliance

The forum was fully supported by each member of the BRICS countries， and exhibition industry associations sent relevant management level to deliver a speech， providing the foundation for the BRICS exhibition cooperation. At the end of he meeting， delegates signed \"BRICS MICE Cooperation （Xiamen） Consensus\"， which outlined the specific framework of the participating parties to promote the exchange of exhibition industry and put forward many feasible measures， including co-build a website for sharing MICE information， participating in each other；s exhibition activities， etc. The forum achieved effective results. In the future we also expect to include\"The Belt and Road\" countries in the forum ， and to extend the scope and depth of cooperation.

KV Nagendra Prasad， President of Indian Exhibition Industry Association

I must say， I was totally impressed with the arrangements and format of BRICS MICE Cooperation Forum initiated by Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Convention and Exhibition Affairs， and supported by MOFCOM. I am sure all the participating associations from BRICS nations will work towards making this BRICS MICE forum more meaningful and purposeful. We IEIA are very happy to be part of this great initiative and would like to play an active role in strengthening this cooperation. BRICS nations together constitute more than 40% of the global population and about 30% of global GDP and have a strong human resource base， therefore BRICS is a formidable group compared to other groups of nations and there is definitely a lot to learn， share and cooperate.

Jo？o Miguel Taveira Pinto De Nagy， CEO of UBRAFE During the BRICS Xiamen MICE Summit I made worthwhile contacts and believe that this cooperation could be very important on two specific topics：-To assist raise conscience of BRICS Presidents as to the importance of meetings and exhibitions as a very real and pragmatic tool in the development of International Trade and exchange of information. This could， for example， be easily incorporated into the Belt and Road Initiative bringing trade ahead of actual infrastructure being ready.

-BRICS countries should not make the mistakes made by more mature countries （and already very visible in BRICS Countries themselves） of over building event locations which will then have difficulty in viabilizing themselves economically.

As such there is a true opportunity for BRICS Countries to join hands and occupy on a partnership basis existing events spaces in mature markets， occupying possibly privileged space while at the same time learning first hand how to operate and attract truly international business where it exists. This could definitely be a shorter road and cheaper than learning by one′s own mistakes.

Andrew Binning， Project Manager， South African Association for the Conference Industry （SAACI）

It was great to meet the individuals who are going to take the strategy forward. It was good to build a trust relationship with all involved. I received a better perspective as to what the vision of the Forum is， and I was happy to be part of the foundation laid to now take things forward. Now that a clear strategy now be formulated， looking forward I would like to see certain benefits being offered to stakeholders when doing business within the BRICS countries， and regular and relevant information be shared with all countries and their industries.

Baranov Aleksandr， Vice President of Russian Exhibition Federation

I am grateful to the representative of China for the initiative of holding this forum. Great people from China， Brazil， South Africa， who want to develop exhibition activities internationally gathered together. In the near future， concrete steps will be taken with each party to sign an agreement to participate in each other’s exhibitions.