13th Congress of the Children’s Industry started its work at Expocentre Fairgrounds

Today, the Regional Stage of the Congress of the Children’s Industry, the main industry event of the year, started its work within Mir Detstva 2022 and CJF – Child and Junior Fashion 2022. Autumn. The event is organised by the Association of Children’s Goods Industry Enterprises with the support of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Russian Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, the Russian Ministry of Education, the Russian Academy of Education and EXPOCENTRE AO.

The regional agenda was singled out as a separate stage of the Congress due to the increasing role of the regions in the development of the children's goods industry and the launch of a state support programme for regional manufacturers. The stage is aimed at summarising regional experience in order to form effective mechanisms for developing the industry in the context of new economic challenges.

The participants in the Plenary Session of the Children's Industry: Building Blocks for Technological Sovereignty discussed the current situation, opportunities and risks for the Russian industry, what should be done to achieve technological sovereignty.

Antonina Tsitsulina, President of the Children's Goods Industry Association, moderated the session: 'Our discussion aims to identify how our manufacturers live in the regions, what the main difficulties are related to economic sanctions, how dependent we are technologically on raw materials, components and equipment, and what needs to be done to ensure that 60-80% of essential goods are produced in Russia. In her view, there are two objectives: to prevent a shortage of children's goods and make them available to the widest possible segment of the population to help address the difficult task of eradicating poverty for families with children.

Liliya Gumerova, Chairwoman of the Federation Council Committee on Science, Education and Culture, expressed her vision of the industry working for children: "The topic we are discussing is one of the strategic areas of the country's economy. Issues of industry and childhood economy development have become not only an integral part of state policy in the sphere of family, motherhood and childhood, but also an effective mechanism for ensuring the quality of life of children, their upbringing and growth".

Liliya Gumerova elaborated on innovations in the President's instructions that have already been reflected in the development of industries related to creation of teaching and education facilities: "First of all, it is necessary to fully equip new schools, refurbish schools after renovation, not to let economic sanctions affect the quality and content of school infrastructure, teaching equipment and educational facilities. Particular attention must be paid to pre-school educational institutions, a development environment that is fully adequate to the upbringing of children is needed. Each and every point of order must be fulfilled in a quality manner.

Dmitry Kolobov, Director of the Social Goods Industry Development Department of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, also took part in the discussion. "This is not the first year we have tried to support and give impetus to the development of the industry. We need to answer three questions: What must be done on a full-cycle basis? What can we continue to import from our friends? What should we do with the foreign market? The actualisation of further industry development depends on the answer to these questions”, said a representative of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Technological sovereignty, according to the speaker, is about our brands in our market with our products and our consumers. The departure of foreign companies does not so much reduce supply as it creates unnecessary social and consumer resentment. It is important to develop the Russian brand, which will not go anywhere, will grow stronger and enter foreign markets.

Representatives of companies - manufacturers of clothes and footwear, school goods, games and toys - made presentations. Arkady Kostenko, Director General of HATBER-M, Anastasia Vasilkova, Director of Development of the Choupette brand, and Margarita Musatova, Director General of Desyatoe Korolevstvo, spoke about the most important things for the development of their company.

The congress continued with a Practical session on social support for children as a driver for the Russian industry. The discussion focused on supporting consumer demand for domestic goods for children while implementing social support measures for families with children. Proposals were also made to stimulate Russian producers to meet the needs of parents and the industry, and their impact on improving the availability of goods for children.

The Regional session on the best regional practices for the development of the Russian children's industry (the Moscow - Tver - Tyumen regions) concluded the first day of the congress. During the discussion, regional representatives outlined current problems of regional enterprises, presented new investment projects, regional plans for industry development and proposals for the implementation of specialised support programmes for the children’s goods industry.

The Congress of the Children’s Industry runs until September 29.

Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO