St. Petersburg Technical Fair 2009 - Report

St. Petersburg Technical Fair was held on March 10-13, 2009 in Lenexpo Fairgrounds, St. Petersburg. The events of the Technical Fair were visited by 8 300 experts. About 400 industrial companies from Russia and 22 other countries including companies of the national expositions from India, China and Czech Republic presented their products in the territory of over 13 000 sq. m.

The plenary session Innovations and Industry. Conditions for Development, which has launched the Technical Fair, was participated by the representatives of the governmental authorities, heads of Russian regions’ representatives and government agencies as well as high technologies and industrial innovations experts. Yuri Sentyurin, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation addressed the participants of the Fair with a welcome speech. Valentina Matvienko, Governor of St Petersburg welcomed the participants emphasizing the great scale of the event and its unique format, quote ‘The Technical Fair we are launching today is surely great. Such a scale of technical achievement has never been presented’. Moreover, the Fair has also been participated by Valeriy Chereshnev, chairman of the State Duma Committee of the Russian Federation, Dionis Gordin, investment managing director of Public Corporation ROSNANOTECH, Sergei Vasiliev, deputy chairman of Vnesheconombank and others.

For the whole period of the Fair there were presented international industry exhibitions on different directions, such as metallurgy, engineering, metalworking, automobile industry, an enterprise infrastructure and industrial innovations.

The novelty of the Fair 2009 was BLECH Russia’09 - a jointly held first and only in Russia exhibition devoted to equipment and technologies of metal sheet working. Over 160 European producers from 17 countries around the world, including 6 companies from St. Petersburg and 19 companies from other Russian regions presented their products at the exhibition. The leading industry producers have exhibited a full range of equipment and technologies covering all the key sectors of the sheet metal working industry. Semi-finished products and sheet metal finished goods as well as tools and machines for every kind of work with sheet metal were exhibited for the industry experts. Among the exhibition participants there were: the industry leaders - SCHULER, Galica, Invernizzi, Neff, TAMA, OOO AMADA, ROBUR International, CSoft, Abamet Advanced Machinery and others. During the work of the exhibition the participating companies have made 20 presentations.

Over 120 enterprises in the territory of 1000 sq. m. presented their novelties of engineering and technologies as well as advanced materials and equipment at the 15th International Exhibition Congress High-Technologies. Innovations. Investments. For the first time the Exhibition 2009 was participated by foreign partners from Poland and Germany. The most popular exhibition was a retrospective exposition devoted to the anniversary of the first in Russia International Exhibition of Inventions. There were photos of exhibits and some kinds of products which St. Petersburg companies participating in the first exhibition of the industry had presented. Among the participants of the Exhibition of 1909 there were: Admiralteyskiye Izhorskie Zavodi (today - OMZ "Izhorskie Zavodi"), Y. M. Ayvaza Plant (today - Svetlana JSC), Mechanics, Optics and Horology Department at the Prince Nicholas Vocational School (today - Saint Petersburg State University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics) and A. N. Shaposhnikov Factory (today - ZAO Nevo-Tabacco). The participants of the Fair were also very interested in the central booth of the exhibition Innovation Technologies for Municipal Services where 16 enterprises including the Association of Electrical Manufacturers Soyuz-Energo, Investigation Development manufacture Bourevestnik, Holding Company PIGMENT, Vector, Electron and some others presented their products.

Innovation Industrial Forum 2009 under the motto ‘Institutions, Investments, Infrastructure, Innovations and Intelligence as the basis of the national competitive ability of Russia’ took the central place in the business program of the St. Petersburg Technical Fair. The Forum featured conferences, seminars, round table meetings and presentations participated by 2 770 experts.

Mikhail Richev, first deputy director Russian Science Center Kurcgatov Institute spoke about the Russian Federal Program Research and Development the Science and Technology Complex Priority Development Drections for 2007 – 2012 at the conference Nanotechnologies and Nanomaterials. The total cost of the program for 6 years amounts to 132, 83 bln. rubles with 60% devoted to nanotechnology industry development, as Mr. Richev said.

Problems of metalworking and production were also discussed at the conference Sheet Metal Working and Production held in two sections: Advanced Technologies and Equipment for Sheet Metal Working and Production and Sheet metal for automotive industry: current condition of production, challenges, prospects. The participants of the conference have discussed new technologies of hot and cold sheet metal rolling for automobile industry, innovation production of flat steel for oil and gas extraction and transporting in Arctic field, laser technologies and equipment for sheet metal working and many others.

Russian and foreign experts have actively discussed the current problems at the round table meetings, such as Human resources management in innovation enterprises in the context of unstable economic conditions, Active support of small and medium enterprises, Efficient enterprise management in the context of crisis, Problems of foundry production of components for automobile industry in St. Petersburg and Russia in the present economic conditions. Infrastructure, technologies, equipment, materials. Search for efficient forms of cooperation under the changing economic conditions, Successful subcontracting examples as well as Russian and Finnish round table meeting devoted to the issues of subcontracting for metalworking and engineering industries. Following the traditions, the contest The Best Innovation Project and The Best Hi-Tech Technology of the Year was held. Experts from Federal State Institution Research and Development Institution RINKCE examined the contest. 166 applications were sold for the contest. According to the results of the contest, on the last day of the Fair there were awarded 74 Gold Medals, 75 Silver Medals, 11 Diplomas, 4 special prices and Grand Prix. The majority of the awards – 16 Gold Medals, 27 Silver Medals and 7 Diplomas – were presented to the participants of the exposition of the Khabarovsk Region Ministry for Economic Development. The Grand Prix in the category of

The Best Innovation Project in the Field of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies was taken to Moscow by the representatives of Research and Development Center of surface properties and vacuum study. Special prices were awarded to Central Research and Development Institution of Materials (St. Petersburg), The Establishment of the Russian Academy of Sciences Geological Institute of Kola Science Center (Apatity), ООО Zvezda-7 (Khabarovsk), P. A. Soloviev State Aviation Technology Academy (Ribinsk).

On the 12th of March St. Petersburg Technical Fair featured the Day of Young Expert. The Fair was visited by 500 students of the leading technical institutions of St. Petersburg, including: St. Petersburg POlytechnical college, the North-Western State Correspondence Technical University, St. Petersburg College Stankoelectron and many others. Students studing the course of Metallurgy and Metal Heat-Treating and Mechanical Engineering had an opportunity to see the equipment for metalworking, iron and steel industry and engineering.

On 10-12 March, the Partneriat: St.Petersburg – Regions of Russia. Lines of Cooperation. was held jointly with Fair. For its three days over 1500 people from 58 Russian regions participated in it. Within the framework of the Business Contact Exchange there were held 850 business meetings and 22 negotiations between large enterprises and potential partners. 26 companies have made up 12 collective expositions as a part of the regional exposition St. Petersburg – Regions of Russia.

There were held meetings among the representatives of profit and non-profit organizations and Mikhail Oseevsky, vice governor of St. Petersburg, Igor Ilyuhin and Dmitriy Bikov, deputy chairman of Committee of economic development, industrial policy and trade and others. Such companies as OAO Zvezda, State Transport Agency St. Petersburg Metro, ООО Modern House Building Works, ООО Lenpolygrafmash, LOMO PLC, Trading Company Machiny Kirovskogo Zavoda, ОАО Rustrubprom, Federal state Unitary Enterprise Gosmetr, Nonprofit Partnership Foundrymen Union of Saint-Petersburg, ООО Valve Corporation, St. Petersburg Association of Automobile Components Producers, Engineering Club and some others have worked the most actively.

All the events of St. Petersburg Technical fair were organised by the group of companies RESTEC with the support of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Government of St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Russian Association of Founders, Saint-Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry and under the auspice of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.