Guiding Lines: MIPIM: Who’s last?

Approximately 12 years ago I became acquainted with an interesting person, an unconditional authority in the real estate market. He told me about the market (both the Russian and foreign), and I was a grateful listener. This person told to me about the existence of FIABCI (Federation Internationale des Administrateurs de Biens Conseils et Agents Immobiliers), of which I am a member of today, and the largest annual investment summit, MIPIM, in Cannes, where I have gone for four years in a row.

This is today, but 12 years ago Russian companies had only just started to become familiar with the world's largest real estate exhibition. Many considered visiting MIPIM as a whim, as, in any case, they worked in the Russian market, they had enough clients, and it still wasn’t the fashion to attend international conferences.

Now the situation has radically changed: there are already no places at MIPIM-2008, which is traditionally held in the middle of March, for new exhibitors. Russian companies (as well as all other new participants of MIPIM) are offered a place on a rather long "waiting list" and hope for a happy outcome.

The manager of MIPIM’s sales department Tania Singankutti notes that all the participants of MIPIM-2007 have been given the opportunity to reserve a stand for the event in 2008. "In spite of a large share of the remaining free exhibition space having been given to Russian companies, we will not have the possibility of providing exhibition space to all interested parties. The waiting list of Russian companies is rather long. Despite this, we make well thought out decisions on the list of Russian clients, taking into account the specificity of the company, and its possibilities."

The logic of the developing situation

Such a succession of events should provoke reaction from market participants.

Among Russian companies a rumour has spread that the organizer of MIPIM, Reed Midem, wants to get rid of new Russian participants, having moved them to new, but obscure exhibitions such as MIPIM Asia (the first exhibition took place in autumn last year) and MIPIM Horizons (the first exhibition will take place in December next year). To separate truth from fiction, it was necessary to call the managing director of Reed MIDEM, Thierry Renault.

"Nobody has set about to and nobody intends to force Russian companies out of MIPIM,” Renault declared in a telephone interview with Vedomosti. “Today, as well as for many years back, we are more than happy to welcome Russian participants. At MIPIM-2007, the Russian delegation was fourth by number of participants (550 companies-participants, including 206 companies-exhibitors, altogether 53 stands), the number of Russian companies who participate in MIPIM increased in comparison with 2006 by 44 per cent. The stands of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation, the Krasnodar region and open joint stock company Moskva were third, fourth and fifth accordingly in size. At MIPIM-2008 the stand of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation will have an area of 500 sq.m, and will be one of the largest.” Renault emphasized that for MIPIM-2008, 35 Russian companies have already confirmed applications for last year's stands. “In addition to this 13 new Russian participants have received stands, among which development companies prevail - Peresvet Investment, Russian Land (STT Group), ST Group, Yart Development, Miel, etc.,” he says.

According to Renault, the new MIPIM Horizons exhibition is organized with absolutely no purpose to exclude Russian companies from the international professional community, owing to the heightened interest of investors in countries with a developing economy, which includes Russia. "Opening new exhibition space, we offer companies an extra opportunity," ascertains Renault.

In fact, in the press release on the new MIPIM Horizons exhibition, published jointly by Reed Midem and the mayoralty of Cannes, it says that the exhibition will be devoted to those countries and regions, which have high potential for development of business and so, represent special interest for investors in real estate. "Special attention will be given to Central Europe, the Near East, Central Asia, Latin America and subjects of the Russian Federation," it emphasizes in the press release.

"For 18 years (MIPIM first started in 1990 - Vedomosti) MIPIM has proved itself to be a unique professional international exhibition for real estate market participants,” notes Paul Zilk, chairman of the board of directors at Reed MIDEM. The international investment community is looking for new opportunities for business development, and the new MIPIM Horizons exhibition will allow them to discover countries and regions especially attractive for investment.” Remember the premier of MIPIM Horizons takes place in Cannes from December 2-4, 2008.

A bird in hand

Of course, new opportunities are good, but the majority of real estate market participants are conservative. They look narrowly at new opportunities, but most of all, respect opportunities that have been checked by time, and so are guaranteed. So what should those who there isn’t enough space for at MIPIM-2008 do? Renault advises them to register for the exhibition as visitors.

Visiting MIPIM gives an unprecedented crop of contacts and acquaintances - both Russian and foreign, completely changes the representation of the real estate market and the methods of work within it, and also cultivates a feeling of participation in a highly professional community. The Internet or stories of eyewitnesses cannot replace the influence of participating. However, this is only my subjective opinion, and I don’t pretend that this is fact. There will always be the dissatisfied and deprived, who optimists cannot console or persuade. It is not possible to show the achievements of your company with just a beautiful stand and a six-figure sum (in euros) spent on making the presentation product. The main thing is to create a company that has a faultless business reputation. Then the thirst of publicity will recede, and on the surface there will be self-respect. Unfortunately, this wonderful transformation will not happen over night but only when a company becomes known on the international scene.

Preparing for visiting the last MIPIM, I looked in search engines at foreign companies interesting to me beforehand, in order to meet with their representatives. Although the companies were well known, far from every one of them had a stand. MIPIM-2007 came to an end, and I decided to abandon the obligatory program and find London’s stand. Among the booklets and brochures I saw, with surprise, three piles of business cards of one of the largest architectural companies – Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM). Yes, the top-managers of SOM had simply left the business cards at the London stand, the city in which their headquarters are now located. SOM had no stand of its own, and it seemed like this did not trouble them at all. Publicity was simply not necessary for them. Probably, because SOM’s skyscrapers located at the furthest corners of the globe are the best and most evident acknowledgement of the viability and success of the company.