For the second time the International Exhibition «ARABIA-EXPO 2010» was held on June 7-9 at the IEC «Crocus Expo» with the participation of Arab, Russian and European companies.
The opening of the «ARABIA-EXPO 2010» exhibition was attended by the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation E.М. Primakov, Chairman of the Russian part of the RABC, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the JSFC «Sistema» V.P. Yevtushenkov, President of the General Council of the Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of the Arab countries A. Kassar, Director of the Russian-Arab Business Council" T.A. Gvilava.
The Exhibition «ARABIA-EXPO 2010» aroused no less interest among the official circles of Russia and Arab countries, which only increased during the events. The interest of Russian-Arab entrepreneurs to participate in the Exhibition has also increased: in total, it was attended by about 500 companies and organizations, of which 300 came from various Arab countries, and about 200 represented cities and regions of Russia. Thus, about fifty new Russian companies and many new companies representing Arab countries took part in the events. This year, a characteristic feature of the Exhibition was its extensive business program: IX Joint Meeting of the «Russian-Arab Business Council», conference «RUSSIA — ARAB WORLD. ROUND 2», which was organized by the «Al-Jazeera» Research Center in collaboration with the Russian TV channel «Rusiya al-Yaum», which broadcasts in Arabic, the «Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences» and the «Russian-Arab Business Council», as well as numerous round table discussions on current areas of cooperation.
The Exhibition was held with the support of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, the Russian-Arab Business Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, the League of Arab States, the General Union of Arab Trade and Industry Chambers, Russian Embassies in Arab countries, Arab Diplomatic Missions in Moscow.
The Exhibition consisted of national pavilions of Arab countries, among which were Bahrain, Algeria, Tunisia, Palestine, Morocco, Jordan, along with exhibits of Russian companies interested in working in the Arab market — Arzamas Plant of Municipal Engineering"OJSC KOMMASH«, «OJSC NPK Uralvagonzavod», «LLC Société Transgidrostroy», «OJSC VAO Intourist», «CJSC Institute Orgenergostroy» and others. Companies from Finland, Slovenia and Ukraine also took part in the exhibition.
The subjects of the exhibition covered various areas of cooperation of mutual interest:
Light and food industries, mining and forestry industries, healthcare, construction, agriculture, water supply, transport, logistics, tourism, congress and exhibition activities, banking, etc.
The Exhibition «ARABIA-EXPO 2010» became a platform for meeting Russian and Arab businessmen and was aimed at assisting participants in establishing partnerships, organizing bilateral meetings and negotiations to promote their products and services. Participation in the Exhibition provided many companies with a good opportunity to develop their business and promote products to Arab markets. Small and medium enterprises were able to find reliable partners and investors.
The closing ceremony of the II International Exhibition «ARABIA-EXPO 2010» was held on 9 July. It was attended by Director of the «Russian-Arab Business Council» — T.A. Gvilava, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco in the Russian Federation — Abdelkader Lesheheb, Deputy Director of the International Exhibition Center «Crocus Expo» for foreign economic relations — M.A.Melikov.
The director of the «Russian-Arab Business Council» T.A.Gvilava thanked the participants of the Exhibition for their activity and efforts aimed at strengthening Russian-Arab interaction, as well as the leadership of the International Exhibition Center «Crocus Expo» — for their professionalism and flexibility in the process of preparing for the event.
Deputy Director of the International Exhibition Center «Crocus-Expo» for foreign economic relations M.A.Melikov thanked the participants of the event and said that IEC «Crocus-Expo» is always happy to see the exhibitors from Arab countries and to provide its space for the Russian-Arabic events.
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco in the Russian Federation Abdelkader Lesheheb thanked the organizers of the Exhibition and the IEC «Crocus-Expo» for the work done and stressed the importance of holding such events to expand Russian-Arab and Russian-Moroccan cooperation and expressed the hope that the next Arab exhibition in Moscow will become even more successful and representative.
Separately, the national pavilion of Morocco was noted, which ranked first in area among the pavilions of all the participating countries.