Speech by Mr. Cliff Wallace
President of UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry For the launch of Big Four Expo in Chengdu

Chengdu officials, industry friends, media representatives, and, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon!

As President of UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, I bring you greetings from our Board of Directors and UFI members representing the exhibition industry within 86 different countries globally.

In August of the year, I received a sincere letter from Ms Chen Lin, President of CCPIT Chengdu. In her letter, she pointed out that the crucial objective for CCPIT and industry officials at that time was to “recover the confidence of Chengdu from the outside world and let them be aware that Chengdu is still safe and still a good destination for exhibitions and conferences”.

I applaud the active role of CCPIT and the municipal officials of Chengdu and Sichuan. With the help of the PRC’s extraordinary leadership, you all have made enormous progress following the devastating earthquake on 12 May. I congratulate you for your resilience and success in moving forward as you have. Having been in the northern mountains of Sichuan Province on 12 May, I am uniquely appreciative of the extraordinary effort that has occurred in this great country, in this great province and in this great city.

I am extremely pleased to join representatives today of CMP Asia Limited and its joint venture company, Shanghai CMP Sinoexpo International Exhibition Company Limited, in this important media conference and signing ceremony. It reflects their commitment and major contributions to the revitalization of Chengdu’s exhibition industry. UFI is proud to have CMP Asia Limited, CCPIT and the Chengdu New International Convention & Exposition Centre as members and I am here today as UFI’s President to support those members, Chengdu and the PRC.

The business being confirmed today for Chengdu and Sichuan will help to revitalize the economy and encourage more business, all to the ultimate benefit of those citizens, “heroes”, who have survived, may have been otherwise impacted by the earthquake, but who look toward the future with great anticipation.

I am honoured to be with you and join in this happy celebration and signing ceremony.
I wish the organizers success;
I wish China’s leadership success;
and, I wish the people of this region the absolute best.

Thank you!