HANNOVER MESSE: Russian companies show off cutting-edge technology in Germany
From April 1 to 5, the German city of Hannover is hosting HANNOVER MESSE, one of the world’s largest trade fairs, which is showcasing the latest technology and innovations in intelligent manufacturing.
This year its lead theme is “Integrated Industry – Industrial Intelligence” with a focus on artificial intelligence technologies, which improve manufacturing.
Over the five days, 6,500 companies from 75 countries are taking part in the exhibition including 10 companies from Russia: Unitel Engineering, ZETO, Yelets Foreign Trade Company, Navigine, Prosoft Biometrics, ART-UP industrial design studio, ETESIAN, APIK Technology, Clover Group, and EN.RU. Exhibited at the Russian Export Center’s (REC) stand (Hall 27, Stand E18), each is showing their latest technologies and products.
The REC stand’s opening ceremony on April 1 welcomed representatives from the REC in Germany, Trade Representation of the Russian Federation in Germany, Kaluga Region Government Representative Office under the Government of the Russian Federation, organizers of the Deutsche Messe AG exhibition, and Russian companies. The next day hosted a presentation on the new initiative called “Russian-German Trade Contact Bureau.” Chairman of the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce Matthias Schepp, Russian exhibitors, and German companies interested in cooperation with Russia showed up.
Russian companies are organizing meetings and business negotiations during HANNOVER MESSE using an online service called “MatchMaking.” Users can search for contacts, arrange and manage meetings, analyze how productive they were and assess their business potential. For convenient negotiations the REC’s stand has a special business zone with negotiating tables.
Why HANNOVER MESSE?
“Within the effort to expand our business in Germany, we are visiting the world’s leading industrial exhibition HANNOVER MESSE every year,” says Alexey Panyov, CEO of Navigine, which is showcasing its innovative platform for indoor and outdoor navigation. “HANNOVER MESSE gives us a great opportunity to present our technology, which allows to track the movement of equipment and stuff within factory buildings. The exhibition helps to establish connections with new clients and expand our network of European partners.”
Alexey Kutyayev, CEO of ART-UP industrial design studio, is also at the event.
“Participating in international fairs in Germany, Italy, Turkey and South Korea we’ve seen a great deal of interest towards our products and services from representatives of foreign business,” he says.
“That’s why we consider it promising and economically viable to expand our activities to foreign markets. This is true not only for our company but for all Russian industrial companies in general.”
ART-UP offers industrial design services, full-cycle product development, and mass production. The company specializes in end-to-end projects, starting with the initial concept to the production of the final product, including every stage of its creation and development.
What Russian companies have to offer?
Among the key technologies that Russian companies are showing off this year is Unitel Engineering’s teleprotection equipment for electric energy, oil and gas, mining, and metallurgy industries. The company’s solutions allow protective relays to trip a circuit breaker as soon as possible when a fault is detected, and isolate faulty equipment from other elements of the system.
Another Russian company – Prosoft Biometrics – offers advanced biometric solutions for access control, time and attendance control at work, and information security using fingerprint and palm vein recognition technologies. At HANNOVER MESSE the company is presenting its own line of biometric identification products called “BioSmart.”
Another interesting solution from Russia is APIK Technology’s hydroponic systems, which make it possible to grow plants without using soil. The company itself is focused on working on high-tech products for microelectronics, electro energy, medicine, manufacturing, agriculture, and avionics. Their hydroponic systems provide the most eco-friendly and fastest way to grow plants and ensure a year-round harvest.
Russian-German cooperation on the rise
HANNOVER MESSE is also one of the most effective platforms for strengthening Russian-German trade ties. Over the last few years the relationship has developed.
“Germany is an old and strategically important economic partner for Russia,” says Vasiliy Osmakov, Russia’s deputy minister of industry and trade. “Despite the sanctions, the trade turnover between our countries in 2018 grew by 19 percent and reached $59 billion. This is a clear sign that the interest of German business towards Russia isn’t falling.”
Indeed, compared to 2017, in 2018 Russian exports to Germany increased by 32.5 percent and reached $34.1 billion. Russia exported ferrous and non-ferrous metals, wooden products and paper, tires, lasers and various devices, fertilizers, and rubber. Germany has also received Russian-made aviation components, power tools, auto parts, confectionary, furniture, washing machines, and even beer, and is looking to develop all areas of export, especially with high added value.
The share of non-primary exports from Russia to Germany has also increased in 2018 compared to 2017: they amounted to 25.6 percent of overall exports and are estimated to be worth $8.7 billion.
“We have set an ambitious goal to increase non-primary exports to $250 billion by 2024,” notes Osmakov.
“Russian participation in HANNOVER MESSE expands our international cooperation network and this will help our competitive products reach foreign markets.”
According to the General Director of the REC Andrei Slepnev, Germany is Russia’s most significant trade partner after China.
“The quality of many Russian products in a range of industries is not worse and sometimes even better than that of Western analogues, but the price is lower,” he explains.
“And this is not only true with respect to final products, but also to components that are used in manufacturing. With this in mind, the REC will continue to develop our relationship with German partners to promote Russian exports. HANNOVER MESSE presents an opportunity to do that and we are showcasing the achievements of high-tech companies with high export potential.”
Another effort in facilitating trade with Germany is a new project titled “Russian-German Trade Contact Bureau,” which has been launched by the REC and the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce. This project is focused on promoting cooperation, identifying potential demand in Russian goods in Germany, and establishing contacts with prospective partners.
At the same time, the REC aims to identify more specific areas for Russian exports working together with partners from the East Committee of German Economy, German Association for Supply Chain Management, Procurement and Logistics, and Russian-German Chamber of Commerce within the “Procurement Initiative in the Russian Federation.” The latter is focused on integrating Russian component-producers into the production chains of German manufacturers, as well as selecting Russian exporters and arranging their supplies to German partners.
Given the positive dynamic of Russian-German economic cooperation and the growing interest of Russian companies to expand in Germany, the REC is also planning to open bureau points in Berlin and Frankfurt, which will ensure that Russian exporters and their foreign partners will receive all necessary support from the REC and the Trade Representation of the Russian Federation in Germany. This support will include providing information and insight into potential support tools, matching relevant partners, facilitating participation in relevant fairs and business events, implementation of joint projects in Germany, Russia, and other countries.
HANNOVER MESSE 2019, in this respect, is one of the platforms that will open new opportunities for Russian companies on German markets and also globally, showcasing their latest technologies, establishing connections with new business partners, and expanding to new markets.
The REC is a state-owned development institute established by the government to support the development of non-commodity exports. It offers a wide range of financial and non-financial support tools and aims to improve export conditions and break down existing trade barriers.
REC Group incorporates the Russian Agency for Export Credit and Investment Insurance (EXIAR JSC) and Eximbank of Russia JSC and aims to offer comprehensive integrated services to the export-oriented companies. REC offers its services to all exporters of non-commodities’ products, goods and services with no industry restrictions. It aims to provide the companies with continuous support from the proposal and planning phase all the way to the successful completion of the export contract and implementation and beyond – including the e-commerce channels.
