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 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.
Most of this logistical work is outsourced to third parties. In the last three years, a number of companies in the exhibition industry have popped up in Pakistan. The gig is far from easy. Companies wanting to attend these events have to go through the government in order to get a subsidy that the commerce ministry offers for such events. And the government is then responsible for how Pakistan shows up at these exhibitions.
Meet the players
There are multiple players in this entire scenario. The first, of course, is the original event. For example, there is Gitex. This is an event that takes place annually in Dubai at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The Dubai World Trade Centre, originally a single tower built in 1979 to host exhibitions, has now turned into an entire business district. Gitex is a major event that attracts investors from all over the world and companies want to have a booth at Gitex to promote their products to the people that matter.
Perhaps the most important player in all of this is a single public sector firm called the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB). The board manages all “official” international participation by Pakistani IT companies. Why is this the case? Look at it this way. The example of Gitex is of an event in Dubai. It is a landmark event in the tech calendar year for a country like Pakistan. According to PSEB officials that Profit spoke to, the board wants to send Pakistani companies to this event, so they will ask the Pakistani consulate in Dubai to get a quote from Gitex on how much this will cost. The event organisers charge money for space.
When it comes to PSEB, it is in their interest to set up a ‘Pakistan Pavilion’ at these exhibitions where companies can group up together under one banner. That is often the case with how Pakistani tech companies go to exhibitions. Larger companies, Systems for example, usually set up their own stalls separate from the Pakistan Pavilion run by PSEB. There are a number of companies that specialise in setting up such exhibitions for large clients. Gitex charges them money per square foot, they pay a cost for building their booth and then the companies helping them charge a fee. When it comes to PSEB, however, they are supposed to get quotations directly through the consulate as mentioned above. Gitex will charge them money for this on a per square foot rate. However that is not the only cost. There is the cost of setting up the pavilion, putting up boards, bringing in furniture and carpets, setting up coffee machines, procuring stationary, and all other manner of logistical issues. All of these logistics are usually managed by third party event organisers.
For set up and logistics costs, the board asks for quotes from multiple companies and then sees which one is giving them the best bang for their buck. They can then get all of the logistics work done from a local company or one based in the host country of the event. It all depends on what services the government is looking to get for their pavilion and where they can get the best rate.
The subsidy equation
Since 2021, there has also been a subsidy by the Commerce Ministry under the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) that is meant to promote Pakistani tech abroad. TDAP has outsourced this subsidy to PSEB which comes under the IT Ministry. According to the MoU between TDAP and the PSEB, the PSEB receives funds from TDAP to subsidise costs for the event selected by the PSEB by up to 60%.
The way it works is that TDAP, in coordination with P@SHA, the official representative body of Pakistan’s IT industry, chooses the international events where they think representation of Pakistan’s IT industry makes sense. The recommendations are sent to the PSEB which then finalizes the events where Pakistan’s IT industry is going to be represented by securing exclusive pavilions. The IT companies from Pakistan are called to join and show to the participants the benefits of working with Pakistan’s IT industry.
Now, the companies that want to go to these events could very well go themselves by getting in touch with the original event. But companies often only need booths, and setting up a booth has logistics involved. Where will the booth be? How prime will the location be? Who will make the booth? Where will the chairs and other equipment come from? Who will make the sign board and set it up? That is why becoming part of the Pakistan Pavillion at an event like this makes sense. The pavilion is being set up by PSEB, and they also offer discounted prices. Very roughly, if the cost of a booth at one of these events is $3000, PSEB is supposed to reduce the price down by some measure through the budget granted in the subsidy.
PSEB calculates the final price after applying a subsidy. Companies then pay this subsidised rate to go to the events.
While companies can apply directly to be a part of such events, they ideally want to be subsidised to go. On top of this, if a company from Pakistan goes to an exhibition and is not part of PSEB’s selected companies, they will not be part of the Pakistan Pavillion. The official nominees of the government in the pavilion have the added unique proposition that they carry the support of the government with them. For larger companies, it is actually sometimes better to set up their own stalls, even if at a greater cost. Some of them claim that the Pakistan Pavilion comes with baggage, and they get better eyeballs and credibility when they are not part of the official Pakistan branded delegation. But for new companies that are just starting out or don’t have as much money, it is in their interest to go to the event with PSEB.
The exhibitions industry is a thriving one. Multiple companies are involved in it, both as attendees and as organisers. Pakistan’s presence at these international events can be a make or break moment for different companies. That is why it matters how they show up, and what is the best way to spend government resources on this. It is clear that the government should play a role in this, and in many other countries governments fund these events entirely. What is required in Pakistan is more focus and transparency.
{Note from the editorial board: An earlier version of this article incorrectly included mention of an organisation by the name of Eventage and its owner Dawar Khan. We have since learned the information received regarding this organisation was incorrect.
In reality, Eventage is a leading trade promotion organisation which offers Pakistani companies a platform to scale globally, and has been successfully engaged in this business for many years. As such, mention of Eventage has been removed entirely. The publication is apologetic for the error.}
