nCa Report
Ashgabat, 4 December 2017 (nCa) — What was immediately obvious on entering the exhibition was that the stress is on relevance, not scale.
Occupying a small area on the gigantic main floor in the office complex of the chamber of commerce, the exhibition has immediately set in motion a number of processes – the outcome of which would be a very pronounced and productive foot print.
Officially called ‘International Exhibition of Technologies of Production of Import-Substituting Products,’ it was held in Ashgabat, 2-4 December 2017.
The purpose was to showcase some of the Turkmen products that are already substituting imports, and the probable technologies and equipment from the present and potential foreign partners that can be helpful in building the import-substitution capacity.
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The pile of brochures and catalogs on the table where we are writing this report is arranged in no logical order. The brochures that are smallest in size are at the top with increasingly larger (in size, not thickness) brochures finding their place nearer the bottom of the pile. Therefore, the order in which the participants of the exhibition are featured in this report doesn’t represent their importance – there can actually be no order of importance for all participants command equal significance.
The only exception would be that the brochures of the Turkmen companies would be set aside for inclusion in a separate part of this report.
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There were 30 Turkish companies in the exhibition, making them the largest group of foreign participants with wide range of offers of partnership. Most of them were related to the packaging industry though there was also one Turkish company displaying technologies and equipment related to the dairy sector.
There were also some Russian, German and other companies.
Throughout this report, we shall give, where available, the contact details of the companies featured here.
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The brochure on top of the pile is of the Tatarstan Export Support Center, which is a part of the ministry of economy of the Republic of Tatarstan (Russian Federation).
The brochure includes short introduction of three companies.
Contact details
Kiril Kirilin, head of export development department, Tatarstan Export Support Center
Phone +7 84-35247670, email tatexport@yandex.ru, web www.export-rt.ru
Andrey Persnov, head of sales department, ‘Integral+’
Phones +7 843-5675302, +7 987-2967123, email andreykeen@mail.cu, web www.integralplus.ru
Alexander Kuzin, head of export sales department, ‘Escort’
Phone +7 843-2777007, email kuzin@fmeter.ru, web www.fmeter.ru
Farid Gimadutdinov, commercial director, ‘Volzhanin’
Phones +7 843-5267270, +7 919-6206595, email farid@volzhanin.com, web www.volzhanin.com
The Tatarstan Export Support Center provides a wide range of services such as:
- Consultation for entrepreneurs
- Training in foreign economic activity
- Preparation for foreign events
- Organization of SME participation in exhibitions
- Organization of business missions
- Preparation of sales marketing surveys
- Provision of services for standardization and certification of products
- Examination of projects and transactions
- Translation of materials into foreign languages
- Consultation on participation in state programmes
- Interaction with government agencies to promote goods and services
- Organization of interaction with similar agencies in the region
The Tatarstan Export Support Center is based on cooperation among a number of ministries and entities including ministry of economic development of Russian Federation, Russian Export Center, ministry of economy of Republic of Tatarstan, customs office of the Republic of Tatarstan, chamber of commerce and industry of the Republic of Tatarstan, unified portal of foreign economic information, project ‘Made in Russia,’ unified information portal ‘Russian Exporters,’ exporters’ club of Tatarstan, Guarantee Fund of the Republic of Tatarstan, information portal ‘Foreign Economic Information,’ and innovation-oriented cluster ‘Innokam.’
The company Integral+ provides packaging machinery and related training and know-how.
For example, their range of shrink-wrap machines (VERPAK) can be used for group packing of glass, plastic, metal, PEET cans, bottles, cans, etc.
Their label applicator is a small and versatile piece of equipment, best suited for small manufacturers.
It is small in size and performs a simple function – sticking labels to the packaging surface – but it lends a professional look to the end product.
The company Escort (where E is in Cyrillic) bills itself as the ‘largest manufacturer of equipment for transport control and monitoring systems.’
Their products include different kinds of sensors and gauges such as fuel level sensors, bulk level sensors, ultrasonic distance sensors, digital indicators, Escort Net System, etc.
The company Volzhanin is a major producer of modern equipment for welding polyethylene pipes.
It is important to consider that of the literally thousands of manufacturers in Tatarstan, only these three companies were featured in the exhibition.
The explanation is in their umbrella organization – Tatarstan Export Support Center.
This Center in itself is potentially a vital partner of Turkmenistan, bunching together all the disciplines and know-how related to the promotion of exports, because exportable products have the inherent promise of import substitution.
Moreover, just like the Turkish friends, who brought to the exhibition the wide array of packaging equipment, one of the three companies from Tatarstan – Integral+ — is related to packaging.
Packaging is not just an eye-catching way of bringing the product to the notice of the buyer – it is also helpful in maintaining hygienic purity and freshness of the product.
The presence of Escort, the producer of fuel level sensors, is a long shot. With the transport and transit corridors taking shape in the region, many of them passing through Turkmenistan, the fuel level awareness would be a real requirement. It may not add directly to the import-substitution but it would certainly find a niche segment in the market.
The provider of solutions for the welding of polymer-based pipes – Volzhanin – would be well advised to position itself as a partner in joint export of pipes and their welding solutions. Turkmenistan produces excellent polymer-based pipes including polypropylene and polyethylene pipes and it could be helpful to pair them with the Volzhanin solutions for export.
To be continued . . . /// nCa