GRANTEE SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW: TOBIAS BAUMANN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF AHK IN AZERBAIJAN
Mr. Tobias Baumann is experienced professional in international economics. He joined the German Chambers Headquarters (DIHK) in 2008, and there he became the Director for Eastern Europe, South-Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In 2016 he was appointed the Executive Board Member of the German-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The German-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce (AHK Azerbaijan) is offering a wide range of business services and supporting German and Azerbaijani companies since 2012. Can you give us a brief history of AHK Azerbaijan?
The AHK Azerbaijan emerged in 2012 from the German-Azerbaijan Business Association (DAWF) founded in 1999. With nearly 150 member companies, AHK Azerbaijan is the biggest European economic association in Azerbaijan. The German-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce supports the market interests of German and Azerbaijani companies with market and customer-oriented services. We offer a range of services from consulting on market entry and the procurement of cooperation partners to the organization of local business presence.
What are some advantages of joining your Chamber of Commerce?
Becoming AHK Member brings to the companies a number of practical and durable benefits.
First of all, multiple networking opportunities are available for the AHK Members, as they become part of our valuable network in Azerbaijan and Germany. The Members are invited to participate in annual business fora, delegation trips, social events, and specialized trainings. Moreover, the companies receive consultancy on their business opportunities by our highly qualified team or by the other Members, as well as numerous business services such as personnel search, business partnerships, or in-depth market analysis. They also get the chance to engage in the four AHK Working groups on Information and Communication Technologies, Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs, Human Resources and Vocational Education, and Financial Services. These working groups have the main purpose to facilitate the flow of information among the members and address the similar problems they face.
As one of the USAID EDGE grantees, together with your partners, you implemented the “Joining Forces to make SMEs Stronger: Diversification and Innovation through Partnership” Project with the aim of fostering the competitiveness of the SMEs from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, and Belarus by promoting new business linkages of domestic suppliers with German international investors and buyers, accelerating the digital transformation and promoting female entrepreneurship. What kind of project activities were implemented in order to achieve that desired outcome?
The SME project included four overarching activities: A digital market analysis to assess the current situation of the SME sector and its potential in the four partner countries, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, and Ukraine; the development of a digital exchange platform to showcase best practices and success stories from Germany and the EaP countries; the organization of a digital SME Workshop in preparation to the digital delegation trips to Germany; and the “SME Development Forum” where the SME Development Report has been presented. Furthermore, we organized two virtual delegation trips to Germany. First, eight selected companies exhibited at the ITB Berlin, the world’s largest trade fair in the tourism sector. Afterwards, we hosted an Online B2B Event for Eastern Food Products to give agricultural SMEs the opportunity to meet German and international companies. Within this event, we have brought together over 100 companies.
What are some of the main outcomes from this B2B Forum? Also, a digital exchange platform was successfully developed for German importers and exporters from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, and Ukraine. What kind of information can companies find on this platform?
With the help of the digital platform, German companies get detailed market information and company profiles of potential partner companies from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, and Ukraine. Besides all information about the project, they find contact details of the over 100 SMEs which took part in our project and selected success stories from our region. Especially during the B2B Event for Food Products, the platform was a suitable and effective tool, to match German and EaP business partners.
The COVID-19 pandemic is having a significant negative impact on the SME sector in the EaP region with many businesses experiencing decline in revenues. How the public and private sector can provide the right support to enable SMEs’ growth in the EaP region, now and beyond the crisis?
The difficulties faced by the SMEs in the Agriculture and Tourism sectors in the EaP countries have been certainly enhanced by the Covid-19 outbreak, with the Tourism sector being the most affected by it. Nevertheless, a number of measures can be implemented by the public and private sector to mitigate the effects of the pandemic and build them back stronger.
Regarding the agricultural sector, incentives should be given to the local companies to increase the quality of their agricultural goods and allow them to meet the EU-labelling standards. This would allow them to easily export their products to European countries and attract European investors. For the Tourism sector, more infrastructures and local networks of SMEs are often needed, especially in the rural areas. Investing in sustainable tourism and eco-tourism would give a strong input both to domestic tourism and, once borders will be fully open, to the international inbound flows. Lastly, to help the local companies to improve their infrastructures and optimize their processes the attention should be focused on the promotion of vocational training on specific topics and professional figures in both sectors.
