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AHK SERBIA – THE LARGEST BILATERAL CHAMBER IN SERBIA
AHK ACTIVITIES AHK SERBIA – THE LARGEST BILATERAL CHAMBER IN SERBIA
With more than 370 member companies and twenty years of experience, GermanSerbian Chamber of Commerce is the first point of contact and a reliable partner for most German companies interested in doing their business in Serbia
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HK Serbia is a part of a large business network counting more than 140 foreign Chambers of Commerce, delegations and representative offices of German business abroad - in 92 countries, coordinated by the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The main focus of the Chamber is on representing the interests of its member companies, providing them with the necessary support for their business, relevant information on market opportunities as well as offering them a portfolio of services tailored to their needs. AHK Serbia advocates for the improvement of overall economic cooperation between two countries, especially in terms of trade and investment flows. With its support, many companies have gained potential partners for their business and established long-term relations with their clients. In the next two years, the main focus of the Chamber will be on the following strategic directions: dual education / lifelong learning, green economy as well as digitalization / industry 4.0.
CHANGES IN AHK SERBIA:
NEW DIRECTOR AND NEW
PRESIDENT
Mr. Gert Rabbow currently acts as ad interim Director and Executive Member of the Board. Additionally, the German-Serbian Chamber of Commerce also appointed a new president, mr. Milan Grujić, a managing director of the company ZF Serbia, who took over the responsibility and activities of mr. Udo Eichlinger, a former CEO of Siemens Serbia.
INITIATIVE FOR FINDING
SUPPLIERS IN THE WB
COUNTRIES
The regional B2B project ,,German Initative for Finding suppliers in the Western Balkans’’ has been implemented for the seventh consecutive year. During the covid-circumstances, this year’s initiative was held online from 28th September to 15th October. Over 36 German companies (buyers) participated in this project, including 208 companies (suppliers) from the WB region. 62 Serbian companies presented their business to potential German partners and a total of 550 B2B meetings were held (147 with Serbi-
an companies). The goal of this event was the Revers-Sourcing concept (B2B matchmaking), where German buyers met with selected suppliers from the Western Balkans region: Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania. The focus was on the metal industry - product groups of metal construction, castings and forgings as well as other direct material groups. The event was organized by the Association for Supply Chain Management, Procurement and Logistics (BME), regional German Chambers of Commerce and under the auspices of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.
AHK INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIERS
FORUM – BUILDING THE
EUROPEAN SUPPLIERS
COMMUNITY
Since new conditions on the market reshaped the business and disrupted supply chains, AHK Serbia joined the initative called AHK Industrial Supplier Forum in order to offer Serbian suppliers a unique online platform and thus the opportunity to present their products to potential buyers and distributors from Germany. The goal of this initative is to create the largest supplier community in Europe and together with another 10 AHKs from Europe expand the network of suppliers. All industrial suppliers interested in participating at this initiative have the opportunity to register their companies on the forum until 14th April. Additionally, AHK Serbia formed a new Working Group in december last year called "Supply Chains in Serbia" with the aim of identifying the potentials and barriers for the inclusion of domestic companies in the supply chains of German and international companies.
DUAL EDUCATION – A NEW
WORKING GROUP
On the 17th June AHK Serbia founded a Working Group "Dual Education" together with its member companies. The Working Group focuses on the dual vocational education, qualification and dual academic education in Serbia. The kick-off meeting was attended by 33 representatives of the member companies and the main objective was to identify key challenges in the field of dual vocational training, dual studies and qualifications for companies, as well as to exchange ideas and experience with the participants. Since then, the Chamber organized another two meetings and signed a cooperation agreement with Ernst Klett Präsenzlernen Osteuropa GmbH (Klett EDU), offering companies the opportunity to qualify their employees in the field of mechatronics and thus prepare for Industry 4.0. The first member company that applied for the program "Maintenance of Mechatronic Systems" and sent the employees to the trainings offered by Klett EDU is ZF Serbia. AHK Serbia also signed an agreement on cooperation with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Serbia in the field of Sustainable Economic Development and Employment with the aim of collaboration in the field of securing skilled labor, dual training and the green economy.
SERBIAN VISIONS
This year in february AHK Serbia organized the 7th Multi-Congress Serbian Visions, a unique multi-the-
matic event with the goal of gathering non-governmental, humanitarian and business associations in order to emphasize the role of civil society in Serbia. Within 30 online events in one week, participating organizations and companies had the opportunity to exchange their knowledge, information, present their vision and solutions as well as initiate discussion on various important topics with a broad audience. Serbian Visions covered a wide range of topics: innovation, sustainable development, green economy, digitalization, ecology, education, healthcare, culture, social responsibility, human rights and many more.
SENIOR EXPERTEN SERVICE (SES)
This leading volunteering German organization offers the expertise and knowledge of experts or executives who are either retired or taking some time off work in order to advise and help SMEs. They provide their consulting services without any financial compensation and are oriented on helping and facilitating the good business organization not only in SMEs, but also in public and educational institutions and associations. The German-Serbian Chamber of Commerce has been representing the SES program in Serbia since 2005. This non-profit organization primarily receives funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and is based in Bonn.
YOUNG ENERGY EUROPE (YEE)
Young Energy Europe offers young professionals from 8 European countries (Serbia, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) the opportunity to extend their knowledge and educate themselves in the field of energy efficiency and optimization of ressources. Future Energy Scouts can learn how to analyze and discover saving potentials in their companies by attending theoretical and practical trainings and in the end are given the opportunity to present their findings and cases of saving energy in their own companies in front of an expert-jury. YEE is supported within the framework of the European Climate Initiative (EUKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature, Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). The German-Serbian Chamber of Commerce has been conducting this project since april last year and has already qualified the first generation of energy scouts in Serbia (62 scouts form 22 companies) and is ready for new applicants!
INTERNATIONAL NETWORKING
COCKTAIL in Belgrade /
INTERNATIONAL COFFEE
BREAK in Kopaonik
Every year, AHK Serbia organizes together with colleagues from other bilateral chambers an International Networking Cocktail, thus offering its members the opportunity to meet potential clients and expand their professional network. This Cocktail takes place in Belgrade, usually in summer or autumn. Additionally, AHK Serbia also organizes an International Coffee Break in Kopaonik, during the days of Kopaonik Business Forum, providing its members another platform to share their experience and discuss on business related topics in a casual and pleasant atmosphere.
Events with and for members – webinars, members’ dinners, speed business meetings, panels, dialogues
AHK ROAD SHOW
AHK Road Show is a new format of event organized in 4 different cities: Subotica, Novi Sad, Čačak and Niš. Together with the support of its partners – Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany and Germany Trade & Invest (GTaI) as well as sponsors (member companies) and local insitutions (Serbian Chamber of Commerce), AHK Serbia was able to organize 4 events with the goal of presenting the Chamber activities, visiting the member companies from different regions and discussing the investment and collaboration potentials with its members in their own and local environment.
EVENTS WITH AND FOR MEMBERS – WEBINARS, MEMBERS’ DINNERS,
SPEED BUSINESS MEETINGS,
PANELS, DIALOGUES
In cooperation with its members, AHK Serbia organizes and offers numerous webinars, workshops and panel discussions on actual topics. In collaboration with other bilateral chambers, various speed business meetings are organized and the aim is to bring the members of different chambers closer, so they could get acquainted with potential partners and meet future clients. Additionally, dialogues with different Serbian government ministries and local government institutions are organized to provide the members with relevant information on topics that are important for them. Last year, the Chamber also held a Members’ dinner panel where representatives of non-profit German foundations in Belgrade discussed the election results in Germany and whether they would influence the policy towards the Western Balkans.
THE HEART OF WESTERN CULTURE
T
he birthplace of the modern printing press and of influential schools of philosophy and artistic styles, Germany has long played an important role in Western culture, and the arts have been central to Germany’s idea of itself.
Popular festivals continue to abound in the west, southwest, and south, the regions that have clung most to the practices of a traditional, preindustrial age. What is remarkable is not merely that these traditions survive but that the homelier and less celebrated of them remain truly genuine in the observance.
ART FESTIVALS
The arts are celebrated with a proliferation of festivals in Germany on a scale scarcely equaled in any other country. Most major cities and scores of small towns and villages sponsor festivals that celebrate all genres of music, film, and the performing arts. Among the most renowned of these is the Bayreuth Festival, which celebrates the works of Richard Wagner. Founded by the composer himself in 1876, it is still under the direction of his descendants. The oldest German festival is the Passion play, first held in 1634 and now held every 10 years in Oberammergau in southern Bavaria to celebrate the town’s deliverance from the plague.
Berlin alone has five major festivals: the Berliner Festspiele, a celebration of music, the performing arts, visual arts, and literature; the Berliner Jazzfest in November; the Berlin International Film Festival in February; the Theatertreffen Berlin (“Berlin Theatre Meeting”), featuring productions from throughout the German-speak-
THE DONNING OF ELABORATE WOODEN MASKS DURING THE PRELENTEN CELEBRATIONS IN THE SOUTHWEST REMAINS UNCHANGED DESPITE BEING TELEVISED
ing world; and the Karneval der Kulturen (“Carnival of Cultures”), a festival of world cultures.
Munich has an opera festival in July and August, with emphasis on Richard Strauss. Festivals in Würzburg and Augsburg are dedicated to Mozart. Ansbach has a Bach festival, and Bonn has one celebrating Beethoven. Other noteworthy events include Documenta, an arts festival held every five years in Kassel that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors, the International May Festival in Wiesbaden, and the Festival of Contemporary Music in Donaueschingen. Expo 2000, Germany’s first world’s fair, was held in Hanover.
MUSEUMS
Germany has some 2,000 museums of all descriptions, from those housing some of the world’s great collections of painting and sculpture or of archaeological and scientific displays to those with exhibitions of minutiae, such as the playing-card museum in Stuttgart. Museums and galleries of great note include the museums of the Prussian Cultural Property Foundation in Berlin—i.e., the Pergamon Museum with its vast collection of Classical and Middle Eastern antiquities, located on the “Museum Island” in the River Spree, together with the Old (Altes) Museum, the New (Neues) Museum, the National Gallery (Nationalgalerie), and the Bode Museum—the Zwinger Museum and Picture Gallery (built by Gottfried Semper) in Dresden, the Bavarian State Picture Galleries and the Deutsches Museum in
Munich, the Germanic National Museum in Nürnberg, the Roman-Germanic Central Museum in Mainz, the Senckenberg Museum of natural science in Frankfurt am Main, and the State Gallery in Stuttgart.
Some museums are highly specialized, devoted to a single artist, school, or genre, but many combine natural science and fine arts. There are many ethnological museums, such as the Linden Museum in Stuttgart, the East German Gallery Museum in Regensburg, and the Ethnological Museum in Berlin-Dahlem. Important art treasures are scattered in the scores of smaller museums, libraries and archives, castles, cathedrals, churches, and monasteries throughout the country. The Berlin-Dahlem Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum, founded in the 17th century, is German’s oldest botanical garden.
CUISINE
Traditional German cuisine, though varying considerably from region to region, makes generous
use of meat—pork is especially popular, both cured and fresh. Beef, poultry, game such as rabbit and venison, and both freshwater and ocean fish are also widely consumed. German dairies produce a variety of excellent cheeses, and fresh soft cheeses find their way into many dishes. Starches are supplied by bread (wheat and rye) and by potatoes, noodles, and dumplings. The necessity of preserving foods for the northern winter has led to a highly developed array of cured, smoked, and pickled meats, fish, and vegetables such as sauerkraut (fermented cabbage).
German hams and sausages (Wurst) are world famous and widely imitated, produced in an impressive variety. Mustard, caraway, dill, juniper berries, and marjoram are favoured spices and herbs. Tortes, kuchen, cookies, and other pastries produced in the Konditorei (pastry shop) or home kitchen are served as a conclusion to a meal or an accompaniment to coffee. Holidays bring an array of seasonal sweets such as stollen, gingerbread, and anise cookies. Few meals of the traditional sort, whether presented in the home or in a Gasthaus (inn) or restaurant, are unaccompanied by locally produced wine, beer, brandy, or schnapps. By the early 21st century, German cuisine had become more cosmopolitan with the influence of immigrant cultures, and a meal out was as likely to involve Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese, or Turkish foods as traditional German dishes such as sauerbraten, schnitzel, or spaetzle.
