A dynamic, globally growing sector such as the floricultural industry, with its 100 billion turnover, needs an annual summit meeting for decision makers where relevant economic, political, social, technological and scientific developments are discussed: International Floriculture Forum.
Last year, Union Fleurs took the initiative to organise such a meeting for the sector in collaboration with other international organisations, following the model of the well-known annual World Economic Forum in Davos. The working title for the meeting was World Floral Summit, and it was held in the autumn of 2017, at the same time of the Trade Fair of Royal FloraHolland in Aalsmeer.
The World Economic Forum is an independent, international, non-profit organisation founded in 1971, which focuses on the international, national and industrial agendas for economic and social development. Over the course of the years, the World Economic Forum has become one of the most important meetings for world leaders from governments, politics, industry, knowledge institutes and social organisations.
When we held the first meeting for our floricultural sector last year, it was mostly intended as a trial, exploring if there was a need for such a network meeting, where important topics for the floricultural industry are discussed at an international level.
The meeting led to a number of conclusions and offered experience and learning points for future events.
One of the conclusions was that the meeting must be prepared, organised and executed in a professional manner. Another conclusion was that it’s important that the meeting is independent, not a place where certain organisations can advertise themselves.
A third conclusion was that during that first meeting, Dutch input had been too dominant, impeding the international character. The combination with an international trade show was considered desirable though and also offers the opportunity to link to international trade shows in other places. We learned that the best way to organise this kind of meeting is lean and mean: involving only a limited number of organisations and/or people to ensure maximum efficiency and effectiveness.
All of this has resulted in the next international summit network meeting, organised by three partners: Union Fleurs, Hortipoint and HPP Exhibitions. The name has been changed into International Floriculture Forum. It will take place on the 6th of November, coinciding with the IFTF trade show. The event will be organised and facilitated by HPP and Hortipoint.
The programme of this meeting for decision makers in our sector will focus on the turbulent changes in international trade politics, the dynamic developments in logistics, as well as on product innovation. A well-known moderator will ask several top speakers to share their views and participants will also be included in the discussions on these themes.
The forum also provides plenty of opportunity to meet and greet each other, both during the lunch before the discussions and during the drinks afterwards. Preregistration indicates there’s great interest for the meeting. A limited number of places is still available. It is the organisers’ intention that the International Floriculture Forum will become an annual event.
Herman de Boon
Director and Commissioner in horticulture
