If you have worked in the IT industry, chances are you have either been to or seen colleagues jet off to exhibitions in foreign countries. Exhibitions are a part and parcel of any industry. These events, usually hosted at large hotels or dedicated expo centres in both large and small cities all over the world, are essentially meant to connect buyers and sellers.
Manufacturers and sellers get a chance to display their products, show off advances, advertise themselves, and make connections that might serve them in the future. There are far more of these exhibitions and conferences than one might expect. Exhibitions in and of themselves are big business. Organising them, planning them, running logistics and marketing for them is an economy of its own. In the United States alone there are more than a million meetings and events each year, which includes conferences, conventions, and tradeshows. Add hotel stays, marketing, travel, and all kinds of other costs and it comes out to a $330 billion industry.
Pakistan is by no means a global hub for exhibitions, but there are plenty of Pakistani businesses that need international exposure, and attending these conferences and getting access to them involves big money too. Perhaps nothing exemplifies this better than Pakistan’s tech industry. Every year, Pakistani tech companies attend countless conferences and exhibitions all across the world. To get to these exhibitions, you have to apply, buy space, set up a pavilion and have a strategy.
But for tech companies, getting to these exhibitions is simply a matter of paying a fee. Because all of the logistical work involved is done by third parties, companies that specialise in organising exhibitions for participants. In the last three years, a number of companies in the exhibition industry have popped up in Pakistan. These companies have been quietly reshaping how Pakistan shows up on the global tech map with grit, design sense, and a business model that makes international visibility possible for companies that would otherwise never afford it.
The gig is far from easy. While these companies have grown in the past three years, they have been up against government machinery. It is an uphill battle against a system that favors monopoly over merit, and connections over competence. And it begins with an organisation called the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB). The content in this publication is expensive to produce. But unlike other journalistic outfits, business publications have to cover the very organizations that directly give them advertisements. Hence, this large source of revenue, which is the lifeblood of other media houses, is severely compromised on account of Profit’s no-compromise policy when it comes to our reporting. No wonder, Profit has lost multiple ad deals, worth tens of millions of rupees, due to stories that held big businesses to account. Hence, for our work to continue unfettered, it must be supported by discerning readers who know the value of quality business journalism, not just for the economy but for the society as a whole.To read the full article, subscribe and support independent business journalism in Pakistan
