The Supervisory Committee of the National Exhibitions and Conferences Program has directed that procedures be streamlined for organizers of consumer goods exhibitions, and that efforts be made to enhance their capabilities, improve their performance, and monitor their activities. This comes amid expectations that the number of consumer goods exhibitions organized annually will grow to more than 150.
To this end, the National Program for Exhibitions and Conferences organized a workshop in Riyadh to introduce the policies and procedures for holding consumer goods exhibitions adopted by the program’s Supervisory Committee, chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Salman, President of the General Authority for Tourism and Antiquities and Chairman of the Supervisory Committee of the National Program for Exhibitions and Conferences.
A Golden Opportunity for Investment
The program’s Executive Director, Engineer Tariq Al-Issa, emphasized that the new policies and procedures for consumer goods exhibitions represent a golden opportunity and a major incentive for investors to enter the exhibition sector, in addition to increasing the benefits reaped by current investors and creating thousands of new job opportunities for citizens. Furthermore, this type of exhibition will help revitalize local tourism and promote promising regions in the Kingdom, and will generate added value by opening new markets and creating job opportunities for an important segment of society through the allocation of 5% of exhibition space to be provided free of charge to productive families and artisans.
Effective means of promoting national products
A comprehensive review was conducted of all policies and procedures governing consumer goods exhibitions; these were presented and discussed with investors, businesspeople, and a large number of directors and officials from institutions and companies that organize consumer goods exhibitions,
In addition to discussing the opportunities and challenges investors will face in organizing this type of exhibition, the workshop was attended by a large number of directors and officials from institutions and companies that organize consumer goods exhibitions, Al-Issa explained that consumer goods exhibitions are one of the types of exhibitions that the National Program works to organize and develop, as they are considered an effective means of promoting national products, and a driver of tourism and national economic growth. He noted that the new policies and procedures for consumer goods exhibitions were developed after reviewing international experiences and practices, and after an in-depth study involving all relevant government agencies and thoroughly reviewed by the Advisory Group of the National Program for Exhibitions and Conferences, which represents the strongest private-sector consortium contributing to exhibitions and conferences in the Kingdom.
Policies, Conditions, and Regulations
The policies for holding consumer goods exhibitions under the new decision—which will replace the terms and regulations for holding shopping festivals—include a number of requirements, among them:
The applicant organizing the exhibition must be a company or institution licensed to organize exhibitions.
The license application for the exhibition must be submitted at least 90 days prior to the exhibition date.
The duration of the exhibition must not exceed 30 days.
The exhibition must be held exclusively in exhibition halls, shopping centers, hotel ballrooms, and licensed social event venues.
Exhibitions may be held in temporary facilities in cities and governorates where no licensed exhibition halls are available, provided that all specified regulations and civil defense requirements are met.
