400 exhibitors from 27 countries

Last and this year’s MSPO are the only defence industry fairs in Europe that retained their regular presence in the times of pandemic bans and lockdowns. Presumably, this is due to the great determination of the organisers and the participants’ need of direct dialogue?
Determination? Yes. But we are also fortunate to have army modernisation plans in our part of Europe and the announcements of Polish Army numeric establishment expansion. The industry, the state administration, the army, and the government need a platform for business meetings and talks, and MSPO has been just this for almost thirty years.

The size of this year’s MSPO 2021 proves the return to business as usual. How do you assess it the day before?
We are satisfied with this year’s statistics. Progress can be seen, especially when we compare this and previous year’s data: 185 exhibitors from 15 countries in 2020, 400 exhibitors from 27 countries in 2021. Of course, we still have some COVID-19-related limitations. For example, Australian companies will not come to the exhibition due to that country’s travel restrictions. However, we hope that the jubilee, the 30th edition of the exhibition next year, will take place in the size known to all of us from the years before the pandemic.

Was the scale of organisation and logistics difficulties bigger last year or now, when it was necessary to dismantle hospital systems?
The hospital is history. Its infrastructure was dismantled as quickly and efficiently as it had been built. In addition, we used the summer to renovate and refresh the halls, to ensure the comfort of our guests. We have also worked on new solutions. We have a new registration system, we will have event streaming, we offer a hybrid version of the fair: this option may be selected by companies from those countries where current restrictions make it difficult or impossible to travel abroad.

The defence industry exhibition business is changing its face. In this context, how do you estimate the position of MSPO on the map of European trade fairs today?
This question will be best answered by our guests. However, I think that in the perspective of three decades of the MSPO events, and considering the condition of the event during the pandemic, we can safely say that we are strengthening our position as Europe’s third defence industry exhibition, after London and Paris.

Photos: Kielce Fair