RICH PROGRAM OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES - Slobodan Cvetković Member of the Board of Eurasco

As befits the fourth day of the most important regional agrarian festival, the halls of the "Master" Congress Center and the stands of exhibitors in the open and closed space were full of business and professional activities, presentations and promotions. B2B meetings with South Korean and Turkish businessmen, German experiences in the application of innovations in agriculture, Italian in cooperatives, Spanish in irrigation, current domestic topics in animal husbandry, to show jumping and equestrian workshops for children.

The picture of an extremely eventful fair day was completed by the holding of a meeting of Eurasco, the Association of European Agricultural Fairs. The general director of the Novi Sad Fair, Slobodan Cvetković, was elected to the board of members of the association.
– The appointment to the board of Eurasco members is a certain affirmation for me, although I was formally appointed to that body as the general director of the Novi Sad Fair – said Cvetković. – This act is also important for the Novi Sad Fair, because we will be in the heart of all the information – in which direction agriculture is going, what are the topics and what is the attitude of the European Union towards exhibitors from the East. There are outstanding initiatives from China, India and Turkey according to our fair. The reality is also a special attitude towards Russia and some other countries.
These are all topics and possibilities, Cvetkovic adds, to recognize trends as a candidate country for membership in the European Union and as someone who is currently politically neutral in every sense, and thus use our opportunities and potentials.
– The Novi Sad Fair is a point of connection between the East and the West. At this year's International Agricultural Fair, we have as many as 28 Chinese brands, there are also products from Turkey, India... At the same time, we also have classic American and European brands at the fair. Overall, this Eurasco meeting is an additional plus for the 93rd International Agricultural Fair – Cvetković concluded.
The budget of Eurasco and the challenges faced by the exhibition industry in the context of geopolitical and geoeconomic circumstances were the topics of today's meeting of the board of members of the association, which was attended, among others, by representatives of the Novi Sad Fair and fairs from Turkey, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Canada.
Boris Nicolas Erjavec, Member of the Board of Eurasco, Executive Director of the Pomurje Fair in Gornja Radgona (Slovenia), hopes that the long tradition of this association and the strength of agricultural fairs that it brings together can respond to the challenges, including the way of financing.
– It is necessary to find a source of financing. We have enough money for now, and we are expecting new members in Eurasco. Promotion is an important thing, and if someone wants to organize good events with expert lecturers, it should be financed – explains Erjavec.
In his opinion, the long-term successful cooperation between the Pomurje Fair and the Novi Sad Fair can, in his opinion, be a model and support in the cooperation of Eurasco member fairs.
– As one of the oldest in the former Yugoslavia, we were always happy to come to the Novi Sad Fair, to see what was new. The International Agricultural Fair in Novi Sad is held in May, before ours, and this allows us to invite some more exhibitors. We are also connected by the similarity of events in Slovenia and Serbia, for example in diseases and epidemics in livestock farming. We always have interesting topics to talk about. On this basis, cooperation with fairs in Germany, France and Spain can also function, which is a good thing for the Eurasco association - concludes Erjavec.
The Association of European Agricultural Fairs Eurasco was founded in 1972 with the aim of promoting European fairs and encouraging the exchange of experiences, and currently brings together 23 trade fairs from all over Europe.