Onexpo 2022: New beginnings for the Mexican fuel market
The latest edition of Onexpo celebrated in Mérida’s Centro de Convenciones Siglo XXI gathered the key players of Mexico’s fuel retail market to build new business relationships, nurture the local talent and welcome a new board of directors for the organisation.
The leading fuel retail association in Mexico Onexpo Nacional celebrated the latest edition of the Onexpo: Convention & Expo event in the city of Mérida, Yucatan, on June 15-17. The 32nd edition of the expo was held in the Centro de Convenciones Siglo XXI and gathered more than 4,000 participants from the Mexican fuel retail market in an area of 15,000 m2.
Celebrations and renovations in the Mexican fuel industry
The event offered attendees a chance to build new business relationships with several decision-makers from the top companies of the region. Professionals of the industry were also able to nurture their talent through Onexpo’s extensive conference and workshops program, with a total of 38 speakers. In addition, the third edition of the Gas Leadership Awards was held at the event, an award ceremony that celebrates the best initiatives from participants, suppliers and service stations for the industry and awards the best practices. Attendees were also able to enjoy the performances by local artists Pedro Fernández and Yuri during the welcome and closing dinners.
One of the highlights of the event was the renovation of Onexpo Nacional’s board of directors. Mauricio Vila Dosal, Governor of Yucatán, led the ceremony and swore in the new directors. Jorge E. Mijares Casas was selected to take over the presidency of Onexpo after Roberto Díaz de León for the 2022-2023 period.
“With the responsibility of presiding Onexpo Nacional I receive the great legacy of my predecessors, the ex presidents of our dear association. My experiences in the latest years alongside Roberto are very present and fresh as well. His leadership, friendship as well as his responsible, innovative and daring management have teached me a lot. In the Onexpo stage that corresponds to me initiating, I will strive to seek and practise assertive dialogue with our associates, authorities, businessmen of the sector and private initiative organisations," said Mijares Casas in his inaugural speech.
“Our tenure leading the organisation went through complex times, but, particularly, there were two trascendental events that marked our management: the federal government change and the pandemic. For both I have been very clear about the important role that Onexpo plays in our country and in the evolution and future of our service stations. Currently, the market is reconfiguring itself and we see growth in our sector, a diversity of fuel brands and forecourts,” stated Díaz de León in his pass of command speech.
“We anticipate a strong Pemex, with a presence that consolidates its competitiveness based on its processes and the magnitude of its capabilities and not only on the broadening of its legal powers. We see changes in its commercial value proposition, new models such as the ‘Welfare Service Stations’, and important efforts to meet domestic demand in a stable manner in the face of price changes and the tax structure that gasoline and diesel currently have”, added the former president of Onexpo.
Onexpo’s future and legacy
In addition, PetrolPlaza managed to visit the Onexpo offices and talk with part of the new board of directors about the latest edition of the event as well as the new phase that lies ahead for the organisation. Ricardo Cortés Vázquez, Commercial Manager for Onexpo, and Víctor Hugo Arellano Benítez, Technical and Regulatory Director at Onexpo, shared some insights on future editions of the event and the current state of the Mexican market.
"The outcome of the convention is totally positive, it met the expectations of the visitors who attended the event as well as those of the industry, the exhibitors and the brands that were present. The petrol stations presented mechanics or dynamics like never before at their stands, which helped to ensure that there were always people at the expo. And the lectures were also a success, totally packed with spectators," said Cortés Vázquez in an interview with this news site.
"We are looking at some of the issues that were discussed at UNITI expo that appeal to us, such as registration, access and control, and we are looking at how we can implement them here as well because of their importance. The learning experience we had in Stuttgart was very important, although there are issues that are more complicated to implement in our market, such as just having one location. Professionals here need diversity and variety, and that is what Mexico has to offer," said Arellano Benítez.
"The idea is to keep growing, to keep building the convention. I think that year after year we have been growing steadily, in a consolidated way, and next year we want to grow in floor space and exposure as well as in audience levels," added Cortés Vázquez on the objectives for the next editions of the convention.
