The World Franchise Forum Moscow Franchise Expo 2018, an event of global scale, was held under the auspices of Moscow Entrepreneurship Week in Moscow from 30 May to 1 June. The event was organized by the Russian Franchise Association (RAF) with the support of the Roscongress Foundation, the Moscow Government, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation. Exhibition and business programmes were held with the assistance of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Russian Export Center, and the Moscow Export Centre.
The World Franchise Council (WFC) held a meeting prior to the start of the Forum.
Approximately 3000 participants from across Russia and 35 countries and more than 100 media representatives attended the World Franchise Forum Moscow Franchise Expo 2018. International guests at the Forum and Exhibition included 70 executives from international associations, representing five continents. Forum participants included Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Galina Karelova, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Economic Policy, Industry, Innovative Development and Entrepreneurship Denis Kravchenko; Secretary of State — Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Viktor Yevtukhov; Vice President of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of the Russian Federation Elena Dybova; President of the Moscow Chamber of Industry and Commerce Vladimir Platonov, Co-Chairman of the Delovaya Rossiya All-Russian Public Organization Anton Danilov-Danilyan; General Director of the Federal Corporation for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprise Alexander Braverman; Deputy Head of the Department of Science, Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship of the City of Moscow Emil Petrosyan; Executive Secretary, Shanghai Cooperation Organization Business Council Sergey Kanavsky; Head of the Investment Raising and Support Department of the City of Moscow Vasily Kalinkin; General Director of Small Business of Moscow Andrey Zheleznyakov; Managing Director for Non-Financial Support of REC Konstantin Evstyukhin, General Director of ANO Moscow Export Centre (MEC) Kirill Ilyichev; Director-General of the Business Centre for Economic Development of the CIS Vladimir Savchenko, General Director of Franchising Intellect and Authorized Representative of the Russian Franchise Association in the Perm Territory and Kirov Region Yulia Bogushevskaya, Member of the Board of Directors of RFA and Founder of 1C Boris Nuraliev, General Director of Invitro Independent Laboratory Alexander Ostrovsky; General Director of the Subway Russia Company Olga Bludovskaya; General Director of Gemotest Laboratory chain Rudem Gaziev; Executive Director of the Association of Entrepreneurship Organizations of the Republic of Bashkortostan Irina Abramova; General Director of the Franchising Academy Mikhail Fainberg; Co-Founder of the European Chain Tonus-Club Yelena Korostylyova; Therapist, Cardiologist, Teacher, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Director, and Moderator Elena Malysheva. The heads of franchise associations of different countries included President of the Russian Franchise Association Agnessa Osipova; Head of the WFC General Secretariat, Executive Director of Egyptian Franchise Development Association (EFDA) Hatem Zaki; Chairman of the WFC Expert Council and the European Franchise Federation, Member of the Board of Directors of the British Franchise Association Michael Eyre; Vice President of the International Franchise Association Josh Merin (USA); Chairman Emeritus of the Philippine Franchise Association, Official Delegate of the Asia-Pacific Franchise Confederation Samson Samie Lim (Philippines); Director of the China Chain Store & Franchise Association Susan Su (China); Vice Secretary for Communications of the WFC, Vice President of International Affairs of the Franchise Council of Australia Jason Gehrke (Australia); General Director of the French Franchise Federation (FFF) Chantal Zimmer (France); General Director of the Spanish Franchise Association (AEF) Eduardo Abadia (Spain); Member of the Board of Directors of International Cooperation Albert Kong (Singapore); Chairman of the Mexican Franchise Association Diego Elizarraras The World Franchise Forum business programme included more than 30 events in various formats: panel sessions, seminars, training sessions, and master classes led by leading experts in the field of franchising. The forum’s highlight was the plenary session ‘Franchising as a Driver of the Global Economy and an Instrument of International Cooperation’, which was attended by members of the Russian Government, franchising association representatives, and members of the World Franchise Council. Discussion participants agreed that Russian franchising had the potential to forge relationships with the international community and that all franchisers in the world were one big family. The meeting was moderated by Dmitry Kiselev, CEO of the Russian International Information Agency Rossiya Segodnya. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin greeted the organizers, participants, and guests of the World Franchise Forum and spoke of the role of the Forum as a major international platform for sharing experience, demonstrating achievements, and implementing new joint projects. «Franchising networks already unite 10 thousand sites in our city. This is more than 200 thousand jobs and 40% of the city’s market of goods and services. The industry is developing at a good pace and has great potential for further growth,» the mayor of Moscow said in his speech. As part of the Forum, participants discussed global trends in franchising; the development of the franchising market in Russia; existing programs to support the export of Russian franchises at the state level; the role of franchising in the development of SMEs; particularities of franchising development in the regions and single-industry towns; the development of international integration in franchising, including Russian-European integration and Russian-Asian partnership; legal aspects of franchising, etc. They discussed the development of franchising in various fields, including banking, medicine, education, social services, manufacturing, the digital economy, beauty and fitness, real estate, hospitality, and women’s and youth entrepreneurship. Russian franchising has developed steadily over the last seven years with up to 15% annual growth in the number of enterprises. There are more than 50,000 companies and approximately 1450 brands in Russia today, 67% of which are Russian concepts. «Russian franchising is mature not only in terms of approaches and development (15% growth per year), but also from the point of view of legislative framework. The President of Russia has assigned tasks to improve conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises and to improve social services and the quality of life, and franchising is the best model, the best impetus for this,» said Agnessa Osipova, President of the Russian Franchise Association. Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Galina Karelova noted that while just a few years ago the mechanisms of franchising were still a foreign concept in Russia, the country now had a very good legal framework in place. «Without a certain amount of preparation, it is always very difficult to get into business, and we are trying to promote franchising since we believe that it softens a little that initial entrance into business,» Vice President of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of the Russian Federation Elena Dybova emphasized. The forum and exhibition were designed to set a new trend in developing this popular business model and to provide practical benefits for developing the regions. On the whole, about 200 Russian and foreign speakers and moderators took part in Forum discussions. EXHIBITION The main themes of the exhibition included franchises from Russia and CIS countries, international franchising (company members of the World Franchise Council), automatic solutions, vending and new technology (equipment, solutions, services, and products for franchising and the consumer market). In addition to theory, guests of the Moscow Franchise Expo 2018 also received practical knowledge with seminars from Topfranchise Founder Vasil Gazizullin, Director General of the ExpoEffect Exhibition Consulting Agency Nikolai Karasev, Head of the Project to Support Exports of Consumer Goods of the Russian Export Center Maxim Chapov, and Head of the Mosgira Franchising Department Stiva Aralov. Industry representatives spoke about their experience taking franchises onto the international market, effective participation in exhibitions, and tools to support domestic exporters. Speeches were also made by recognized industry leaders such as Ernesto Gonzalez, Senior Vice President for Development at ROSINTER RESTAURANTS HOLDING, Polina Kirova, Co-Founder of Rybset, Anna Eidlin, Director of External Communications at Baskin Robbins, Mikhail Fainberg, General Director of the Franchise Academy, and other key industry representatives. More than 80 companies took part in the exhibition, including the Russian Export Center, the Moscow Export Centre, PJSC Sberbank, Baskin Robbins, SOLLERS, SUBWAY, 1C, PIK-comfort, Independent Laboratory INVITRO, Anderson, Domino’s Pizza, MIR Clinic, Shokoladnitsa, Askona, Sushi-WOK, Beeline, companies Novgorod, Kursk, Irkutsk, and Volgograd Regions, a collective stand of Moscow economic universities and many others. As part of the Moscow Franchise Expo 2018, Vice President of the International Franchise Association Josh Merin spoke about trends of American franchising and the advantages of the industry in the 21st century, Vice President for International Affairs of the Australian Franchise Association Jason Gehrke shared five strategies for developing a franchising network, Gorodissky and Partners’ Sergei Medvedev highlighted legal aspects of the industry, and Regional Development and Franchising Director of Shokoladnitsa Maxim Trubnikov brought up expansion to overseas markets. Additionally, master classes were held by Subway Russia’s Director of Franchising Dmitry Chuiko and SABAYON brand Founder Doskali Karipbaev, and the entrepreneurs shared their secrets of success and gave advice to business people just getting started. Subway Russia General Director Olga Bludovskaya announced the winners of the journalism Franchising in the Contemporary World competition, rewarding the winners. «The idea behind this prize is a desire on the part of the company to support the development of entrepreneurship in Russia, to talk about the role of franchising in small business, since franchising not only increases the number of new entrepreneurs, but also creates jobs and contributes to the country’s economic growth,» Olga Bludovskaya said. As part of the Forum, the Moscow Chamber of Commerce, the Department of Trade and Services of Moscow, the International Academy of Management, and the Russian Franchise Association also handed out awards to successful brands and acknowledged company executives. CULTURAL PROGRAMME The World Franchise Forum’s many foreign guests were able, in addition to business events, to take part in an extensive cultural programme organized by the Russian Franchise Association. A delegation of 70 strong joined excursions to the Kremlin, the Bolshoi Theatre, and a concert dedicated to Entrepreneur Day organized by the Government of Moscow. The cultural programme came to an end at Tsaritsyno Park, where guests were treated to a walk through an interactive play in period costumes dating from the time of Catherine the Great. PARTNERS 18 companies participated in the World Franchise Forum. Official partners included the first franchise chain in Russia, Baskin Robbins, the legendary Shokoladnitsa Cafe, 1C, the largest private medical company in Russia, specializing in laboratory diagnostics and other medical services, INVITRO, the world’s largest fast food chain by number of restaurants, Subway, and the Gorodissky & Partners Law Firm. Partners included the SME Corporation, Rosinter Restaurants, Sberbank, Small Business of Moscow, BANK URALSIB, the Our Future Regional Social Programs Fund, Franchising-Intellect, Metropol Hotel, Russian Bank for Small and Medium Enterprises Support. The business programme partner was Russian Business TV Channel WBC. The exhibition partner was Monolith Expo. The strategic partner was the Russian Export Center JSC.
