News
24.10.2019

6th CEE Forum: Successful Matchmakings in Prague

20 buyers from Germany met with suppliers from 15 countries in Central and Eastern Europe for business development. The meetings were initiated by DTIHK and BME.

The 6th CEE Procurement & Supply Forum also continues to pick up speed. More than 20 purchasing companies from Germany, Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic met suppliers from 15 Central and Eastern European countries (CEE) in Prague on Tuesday. And more than 400 matchmaking sessions were held at the largest procurement meeting in Central and Eastern Europe, according to the organizer, Bundesverband Materialwirtschaft, Einkauf und Logistik e.V. (Association for Supply Chain Management, Procurement and Logistics, BME), which has been organizing the forum together with the Czech-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DTIHK) since 2015. “The megatrends in purchasing, logistics and supply chain management do not stop at the CEE region either. Together with our partners from the entire CEE region, we would like to actively accompany the technological change resulting from globalisation and digitisation and support both sides – buyers and suppliers,“ emphasised Olaf Holzgrefe, Head of International Business & Affairs at the BME.
„Digitalisation is also changing supply chains, which is why it is becoming increasingly important to develop further and keep pace,“ said DTIHK President Jörg Mathew. A core element of this is a long-term, sustainable relationship between buyers and suppliers. The CEE Forum of BME and DTIHK is a unique opportunity to network with such business partners. For suppliers, digitalization often means facing massive changes. The digital connection of suppliers and buyers was therefore also the focus of the Prague information and contact forum.
Buyers and suppliers from Central and Eastern Europe came together in over 400 matchmaking sessions and made their first contacts as part of the BME B2B process. Organizers and participants agreed: good, personal relationships between buyers and suppliers save time, stress and money. The CEE Forum offered the ideal platform to lay these foundations.

The future lies in human capital, the forum continued. „Especially Central and Eastern Europe has potential that simply has to be exploited“, Marta Naumovska Grnarova, Managing Director of the Zavar Company in Northern Macedonia, is convinced.
The CEE region offers high quality and productivity in manufacturing thanks to well-trained specialists and modern equipped factories. This is also confirmed by the numerous B2B and sourcing activities of the BME as well as the annual business survey of the DTIHK, in which the quality and availability of local suppliers are among the top 3 location factors. Contact for further information about the 7th CEE Forum: Anke Koch, E-Mail: anke.koch(at)bme.de