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Return to Bulletin Home - June 2009 |
The View from Moscow: High-Quality Agents and Market Growth "A very good opportunity to meet a large number of agents in very little time." — Audrey Abbonen, Institut des Professions des Affaires et du Commerce, France "[The workshop] was an invaluable opportunity to understand the vastly complex Russian educational market." — Jonathan Leigh, Ridley College, Canada
There were more agents than ever at this year's ICEF Moscow Workshop (March 27–29, 2009)—6% above last year's record-breaking attendance—and they came with a shared message: even with the current economic crisis the Russian market is strong and growing. "The economic downturn has contributed to a shift in greater spending on education and away from other types of consumer spending," said ICEF's Business Development Manager, Sergey Krasnyanskiy. In total, 330 participants from 31 countries gathered in central Moscow for the two and a half day workshop. 124 educators and 13 exhibitors held nearly 3,800 one-to-one business appointments with 183 student recruitment agents representing 143 organisations. More than 16% of these participating agents were attending their first-ever ICEF workshop.
Many educators remarked on the high quality of attending agents again this year—a standard that can be attributed to ICEF's rigorous screening process—including agencies from all parts of Russia, spanning Kaliningrad on the Western border, to Vladivostok in the East. "We had many of Moscow's top agents at the workshop this year," said Krasnyanskiy. "But we can also clearly see that Russia's regional markets are playing a much more important role." Educators also had the opportunity to meet agents from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
The British Council reports that the Russian economy has grown steadily since the turbulent 1990s, with annual GDP growth reaching 8.1% in 2007 and then cooling slightly to a still-impressive 5.6% in 2008. With a strengthening economy and growing middle class, Russian students are showing increasing interest in undergraduate and post-graduate studies abroad, along with secondary school, ESL, and exchange programmes. The British Council reports: "With the Bologna Process on the one hand and the increase in people's interest towards international education as well as the general well being on the other, students and parents are quite enthusiastic about getting higher education (or taking their Master's degree) in another country. This is a two-way process, with more and more students from abroad coming to Russia for a term or two."
Will Maciver, the director of Study Group's Moscow Regional Office, provided further background during his feature market intelligence seminar, "Trends in International Student Mobility in Russia and Eastern Europe". Among other insights, he described many of the factors driving demand for international education in Russia and noted that new student destinations in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia are earning an increasing share of the Russian market. Mr. Maciver's presentation capped an afternoon of market intelligence seminars on the day before the start of the one-to-one agent and educator meetings in Moscow. The afternoon also featured sessions on working with Russian agents, with Dr. Anna Ryzhova of the Russian Association "International Education", and the secondary school market, presented by Declan Millar of Ireland's High Schools International.
The ICEF Moscow Workshop is held every year at the magnificent Ritz-Carlton Moscow in the heart of the historical, cultural and business centre of the city. The Ritz-Carlton features outstanding views over Red Square, including the Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral, along with all of the services and amenities that international business travellers require. The next ICEF Moscow Workshop will be held from March 26–28, 2010.
The Ritz-Carlton Moscow--home of the ICEF Moscow Workshop. |
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