From Russia with Love

If you were expecting a commentary on the best of the Sean Connery/James Bond films, I am sorry to disappoint you. But in these difficult economic times, watching an old movie on TV may be the only entertainment that some of us can afford.

This article is for international exhibitors who may have been eyeing the Russian market, but who may have some hesitancy in planning to exhibit there. There is a valuable free new English/Russian exhibitor's booklet available from the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs (RUEF) titled RUEF BEST EXHIBITIONS 2011/2012 which you may find exceptionally helpful.

In the years 2000 and 2011, I was traveling extensively to Russia and the Ukraine working on healthcare access issues and had the opportunity to visit a few conferences and their associated exhibits which at that time were not up to most international standards. But that has changed markedly over the past decade. And it is important to note that the Russian economy is currently in reasonably good shape. Russia’s economy is the tenth largest in the world, with a GDP of $1.477 trillion in 2010. As noted, that is higher than in 2008, when GDP was a $1.232 trillion, but still lower than 2008, before the crash, when Russian GDP was at a peak of $1,667 trillion.

Russia’s GDP per capital in 2010 was $15,900. That compares with a GDP per capita of $47,123 for the United States, and a GDP of $88,232 for Qatar. In terms of income per capita, Russia ranks quite low on the scale – 51st in the world. However, if you convert that into GDP Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), which takes into account the relative cost of living in each country, Russia’s GDP ranks 6th in the world, behind the United States, China, Japan, India, and Germany.

The RUEF BEST EXHIBITIONS 2011/2012 booklet covers information on 144 RUEF Logo granted exhibitions and fairs with audited statistics. Trade show events are grouped by branches of industry and arranged by dates. Contact information on exhibition organizers is also included in a separate section. For more information on receiving a copy of this booklet, contact The RUEF Executive Board, 221 Office, Sovnarkomovskaya St. GSP-1080.Nizhny Novgorod, 603950, Russia. Website: www.ruef.ru. E-mail info@ruef.ru.

About the Author

Gordon Nary is Editor of AboutFace
Trade Show Exhibitors Association