A year of firsts for most important industry gathering

Chen Xianjin, President, UFI – the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry

The UFI Congress this year in Seoul will be the 80th time that the leaders of the world’s leading exhibition companies have come together since the first meeting in Milan, Italy in 1925. I think of it as the most important international meeting of our industry each year. This is mainly because of the very senior level of the delegates, mainly CEOs and top managers, and the fact that they come from so many different countries. Normally, we have something like 60 countries or regions represented from all over the world. The UFI Congress is simply the best network in our industry.


There are two important “firsts” to consider for this year’s Congress: it will be the first time that UFI has been in Korea for this meeting. We have had great support in recent years from Korea and it is now home to the seventh largest group of UFI members. This is a clear indication of Korea’s growing importance as a global trading economy and, of course, as an exhibition centre. The hard work of the Association of the Korean Exhibition Industry, AKEI, and of relevant government departments is evident in the increasing professionalism and high international standards we now see at trade fairs in Korea.


The location of this year’s Congress is also a clear indication of the growing importance of Asia to our industry. I am particularly proud to be leading UFI as its President this year, the first from China and, in fact, from Asia. It is very fitting, then that we should have our Congress in this part of the world. I believe that there will be a very large number of delegates at the Congress from across China and around Asia and this year’s event will be particularly focused on business opportunities in the region including, of course, in Korea.


As well as enjoying the opportunity to meet old friends and make new contacts, we do learn a lot at each year’s Congress. The conference sessions themselves are designed with the senior level of delegates in mind. This year, we will have a strategic focus on what the future will look how and how that will affect our business: we should learn more about how the world is going to change and how our industry will develop as a result. We also learn a huge amount from each other. I often find that the conversations we have with each other are just as important as the formal conference sessions. It is very tempting and easy to spend most of the time with people you know from your own country, but you can get the most out of an international meeting like this by talking to people you don’t know. The UFI staff and your Korean members of the UFI Board of Directors will be happy to make introductions for you.


As well as the main conference session, there is a huge range of meetings during the UFI Congress week. For those interested in industry research, there’s the researchers' meeting. We introduced this in 2011 as an opportunity to get into more detail about research work being done than was previously possible in the main Congress session. Several of UFI’s working committees will be meeting during the week as will our Special Interest Groups, an innovation of one of my predecessors as President, Eric Everard. These groups allow focused discussion on family business, large venues and China. I imagine there may be more in the future: it’s up to the members to let the UFI staff know what they want.


Then, of course, our regional chapters will meet in Seoul. This will include the new Latin America Chapter as well as our own Asia/Pacific Chapter. I imagine we will have a very large attendance at that meeting and there will be focused discussion on Korea’s exhibition industry for our members from around the region. 


You’ve asked me to comment on the likely impact on the exhibitions industry in Korea of hosting the UFI Congress this year. I can cast my mind back to 2006 when the UFI Congress was held in Beijing, the first time it was in China. You could say this was really the time my country’s China’s modern exhibition industry “came of age” and, since then, our importance to the global market has been much more widely recognized. I am sure many of our members will leave Korea after this year’s Congress with a powerful impression of the strengths and opportunities of your country.


The UFI Congress can also impact the industry in Korea by helping to expose a much wider range of people from your country to what is happening in the global industry. The Congress will be open to both UFI members and non-members from Korea and many will have the chance to meet exhibition leaders from all over the world for the first time. This will undoubtedly generate some new business opportunities as well as allowing Korean delegates to bring home some new, cutting edge ideas. Of course, the international delegates will have much to learn from you as well.


As it always does, I think this year’s UFI Congress will leave a legacy of new international relationships as well as an industry better able to engage with global business opportunities. I am sure that the delegates flying out of Korea to their home countries all over the world will be impressed by what they have seen and the professionals they have met. I am looking forward to meeting you all in November.