TEHRAN – Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) hosted a meeting with Managing Director of Iran International Exhibitions Company (IIEC) Houman Razdar on Saturday in which issues and challenges related to the exhibition industry in Iran were discussed.

During the meeting, representatives of Tehran's private sector talked about the shortcomings and weaknesses of the country’s exhibition industry and called for stronger participation of the private sector organizations in holding exhibitions and developing infrastructure in this area.

The attendees of the mentioned gathering raised some problems and challenges in this field including the low quality of services, the high cost of exhibiting, and the lack of serious private sector participation in the decision-making process for holding exhibitions.

In response to the mentioned concerns, Razdar said that a joint working group has been formed with the TCCIMA to study the mentioned challenges and resolve them.

Elsewhere in the meeting, Head of Iran Export Confederation Mohammad Lahouti pointed to the importance of exhibitions in facilitating trade relations between countries and said: "Tehran International Exhibition is one of the most important and well-known exhibitions and its name and brand are recognized at the international level."

Noting that Iran's exhibition industry has faced ups and downs in recent years, Lahouti continued: "After the implementation of the nuclear deal, a committee was established in the Tehran Chamber of Commerce to facilitate foreign investment in the country. One of the goals of this committee was the facilitation of holding specialized exhibitions and trade fairs.”

Optimal use of exhibition capacity, increasing the effectiveness of exhibitions, using the income of exhibition companies for developing the infrastructure in this sector, using the capacity of government organizations to hold exhibitions, removing the monopoly and creating a database and also reducing the costs of holding exhibitions were some of the objectives pursued by the mentioned committee, the official said.

He offered the establishment of a strategic committee consisting of representatives of the TCCIMA and the chamber’s Export Development Committee, as well as Iran Export Confederation, IIEC, and the Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) to improve the condition of the exhibition industry.

EF/MA