Successful Presentation of Western Balkans Companies from Agricultural Sector at 23rd International Economy Fair in Mostar

Western Balkans 6 Chamber Investment Forum (WB6 CIF) has organized the joint participation of 30 SMEs food processing companies and 7 large retail chains/distributors from the Western Balkans in the International Economy Fair in Mostar 2022, which is one of the most important fair events in Bosnia and Herzegovina and one of the most important events of this kind in the region. 

 Mostar International Fair gives participants a unique opportunity to generate new business contacts and potential contracts, to get in touch with both buyers and suppliers, and to have already arranged meetings with new business partners from the Western Balkans economies, as well with companies from other European countries. 

Companies that participated in the event have been selected through an open call that has been promoted by all six chambers of commerce.

The first day of our joint business delegation program at Mostar Fair was planned for presentations of our regional distributors: Bingo LTD, Balkantina, Domaća Trgovina, DM BiH, Fan-Commerce, Merkator S, and UKA Group, followed by b2b meetings between distributors and regional SMEs. In order to exchange information and contacts about all participants, a joint e-catalog has been prepared: 

https://ecatalogue.wb6cif.eu/agricultural-and-agri-food-organic-producers/

 The second day started with the opening ceremony of Mr. Nihad Bajramović Deputy Secretary-General of the Western Balkans 6 Chamber Investment Forum and Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ms. Marija Ašković, Project Coordinator at WB6ICF, later on, presented two platforms that are at free disposal for companies users - Market Access Database and Market Intelligence Database, followed by presentations and additional consultations with Ph.D. expert for agro-food supply chains, Jelena Vlajić and Ph.D. circular economy expert, Nataša Bakreska. The rest of the working day was spent in b2b meetings between companies among the entire region of the Western Balkans, but also with ones coming from Hungary, Croatia, and other EU countries. In total 139 companies signed up and more than 170 B2B meetings were held.

WB6 CIF Joint Business Delegation Program for Organic Agro-Food Producers and Circular Economy Operators opened the door to new business arrangements and strengthened the economy of the Western Balkans region. There was significant interest in communication between SMEs and distributors and large retail chains for further business cooperation and seizing the opportunities, while the number of companies from Albania, Serbia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Kosovo* at the Mostar Fair showed how much the companies are interested in regional cooperation and doing business across the Western Balkans.