BME: Purchasing initiatives Western Balkans and Maghreb Making markets more transparent in 2021

The BME is proud announce that it will organize the 7th Western Balkans Purchasing Initiative as well as the 2nd Maghreb Purchasing Initiative on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). These initiatives belong to the market development programme for SMEs. The BME (German Association of Materials Management, Purchasing and Logistics) in collaboration with its German Chamber (AHK) partner network in the respective regions will once again provide demand-oriented access for German companies to these prospective sourcing markets. With over 2,500 B2B meetings, the Western Balkans Purchasing Initiative is one of the most successful B2B event series for the eight countries in this region. "The BME together with our partners, the Chambers of Commerce Abroad in Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania, will search for suppliers in the region and bring them together with German buyers in B2B meetings," say Olaf Holzgrefe , Head of International and Affairs (BME). "The BME's search process leads to efficient access to the supplier market in the region within the commodity groups of mechanical engineering, metal, castings, plastics, and welded constructions." says BME project manager Giselle Canahuati. For many companies, she explains, the Western Balkan region has been/currently is new territory, especially to SMEs. These B2B events offer a guided entrance to the market and helps them find second-source suppliers with short supply routes. Additionally, creating new access to an underexplored market, the BME will hold the Maghreb Purchasing Initiative for the second time this year with the support of its AHK partners in the region, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and the Euro-Mediterranean Arab Countries Association (EMA e.V.). "North Africa is not yet a solicited supplying market for German buyers, in contrast to its European counter parts Spain, Italy and France who already have trading history in the market" says Holzgrefe. This initiative aims to facilitate German buyer access to the region, and last year’s kickoff event proved great potential to strengthen trading between Germany and the region. Moreover, the BME and its partners, the AHK’S, will not only look for suppliers within the context of the project, but also directly support them, through seminars, to become qualified partners for their German companies. Both B2B events will take place in autumn 2021 and German companies can register their individual needs with the BME until 26 April. Participation in the BME purchasing initiatives on behalf of the BMWi is free of charge. Please send your interest in participating to: bme-international@bme.de.** For questions please contact: **** Giselle Canahuati**(Project Manager, Tel: +49 6196 5828-186),Agnes Janikowski(Tel: +49 6196 5828-227) orOlaf Holzgrefe (Tel: +49 6196 5828-343).