Full Recovery Expected to Come

Fu Bingbing

Fiera Milano Brasil is one of the main branches of Fiera Milano， the leading exhibitions and congresses Group in Italy and one of the most important in the world. Fiera Milano boasts a portfolio of professional exhibitions – both in Italy and abroad– that is unique in terms of the range of economic sectors represented and the quality of the events. Each year its exhibitions attract about 30 thousand exhibitors and over 5 million visitors.

On this edition of our Interview Column， were very honored to have Maurício Duval Macedo， CEO of Fiera Milano Brasil with us for our todays interview to share his insights into the exhibition industry and its situation of the recovery of the industry in the postpandemic era.

Rebound with great vatalities

Maurício Duval Macedo told the reporter that the covid-19 pandemic played a huge impact on Brazilian exhibitions&events industry during the years of 2020 and 2021. They had very few exhibitions in the country on these 2 years and the impact on the market was very strong， bringing many difficulties to the whole event′s industry. In early 2022 they had clearance to redeem their activity from public authorities and it was the year that the majority of the tradeshows in the country were back into the exhibition grounds. In 2022， during the period between June and October， FIERA MILANO BRASIL held 10 exhibitions like Exposec – International Security Fair， where we have traditionally a large participation of Chinese companies， Ecoenergy – Brazilian Congress on Clean Technologies for Renewable Energy Generation，Reatech – International Trade Fair on Rehabilitation， Inclusion and Accessibility Technologies， Fesqua– International Fair on Window Frames， Ebrats– Brazilian Surface Treatment Encounter and Exposition， Fisp – International Fair of Safety and Protection， Fireshow – International Fire Fair， Senabom – Brazilian Firefighters Seminar， Tubotech- International Trade Fair for Pipes， Valves， Pumps， Fittings and Components as well as Wire South America in cooperation with Messe Dusseldorf， Germany.

To keep pace with the times

“As for the aspect of growth of the industry and how to contribute to the industry growth continuously， We accelerated our Digital Transformation process and held 3 Digital Fairs， jointly with a whole reshape in our publishing business， bringing more emphasis to our digital platforms or channels. This was a way to continue interacting with the communities we serve. Organizing these digital events brought us clarity that the digital can enhance and expand audience and content to our physical events but in our point of view digital events will never replace the physical exhibitions. ” Maurício Duval Macedo.

“We aim to continue serving and developing the communities and sectors we operate. We had a strong recovery in 2022 and believe that with an up to date positioning and a constant and fruitful relation with the main stakeholders （companies， Associations， market influencers） we have space to grow in all of Fiera Milano Brasil′s products. We are confident about the industry full recovery already in 2023.”

Exhibition a business inducer

When referred to the preferential or beneficial policies released by the local government to support the development of the local industry， Maurício Duval Macedo told the reporter that Brazilian tradeshow organizers were able to benefit from a few Governmental initiatives， such as the Salary Reduction and Worklength Journey Program， launched during a few months of the pandemic and also the PERSE Program， that comprises some tax exemption initiatives and these programs were fundamental for the maintenance of the events activity in the country. Pandemic “forced” business executives to do whatever possible in terms of efficiency and staff management for the sake of the financial health of the companies and I believe that many of these lessons learned will remain on course and to be even improved in the post pandemic.

We all know the importance of the Chinese market for the global economy and this is not different regarding the Chinese exhibition sector. Brazil and China are already great trade partners in many sectors. “I truly believe that China can continue playing a very relevant role in global′s economy and， as strong business partners， the exhibition sector can act as a great business inducer between Brazilian and Chinese companies.” Maurício Duval Macedo commented with great confidence.