Diaspora for Women Entrepreneurs

On October 13 and 14, ten women entrepreneurs from Kosovo had the opportunity to meet with business representatives in Zurich with the aim of networking and exploring export opportunities for Kosovo products and services. Of 76 B2B meetings between Women Entrepreneurs and Diaspora Businesses, more than 20 are with potential future collaboration.

After the successful B2B meetings, Kosovar Women Entrepreneurs had the opportunity to meet with Ms Merita Pinta, a representative of the Albanian Diaspora Business Network in Switzerland, and visit two diaspora companies, ‘Dinnova AG” and “Optimal Food”.

The “Diaspora for Women Entrepreneurs” project is supported by USAID Kosovo Compete Activity and implemented by GERMIN.

Meeting with Diaspora Professionals and Businesses in Switzerland

This activity was organized by GERMIN, with the support of the CARITAS Swiss in Kosovo and the Citizen Engagement Program, a partnership between USAID in Kosovo, as well as the Kosovo Foundation for Civil Society (KCSF).

Engaging Diaspora Professionals, a program that aims to facilitate know-how transfer from the diaspora to Kosovo was presented here. This program is supported by the Citizen Engagement Activity, a program implemented by KCSF. The director of the latter, Mr Taulant Hoxha pointed out that beyond financial support, professionals from the diaspora can support the civil society in the country of origin, by bringing the practices and experiences of democratic countries such as Switzerland to Kosovo. The call for professionals from the diaspora who want to contribute to Kosovo continues to be open >>.

The financial mechanism from the Swiss CARITAS was also presented at this meeting. It is a call that aims to support investments and business partnerships from the Kosovo diaspora through grants from 20,000 – 53,000 EUR. For more about this opportunity, please read here >>.

Diaspora Business Fair in Austria

GERMIN, through the Municipal Action for Reintegration and Diaspora (MARDI) project, has supported 15 Kosovar businesses from wood processing, ICT and construction sectors to participate at the Albanian Diaspora Business Fair, held in Vienna on the 15th of October. This fair gathered over 60 diaspora businesses and hundred visitors and potential buyers from Austria.

The co-director of GERMIN, Lirim Krasniqi, said that this event, organized by the Albanian Diaspora Business Network, shows the many potentials of our diaspora, and a great opportunity for Kosovar producers to access European markets.

Meanwhile, Luiza Sekiraqa from CARITAS Switzerland, who finances the MARDI project, presented the call for Investment Projects from Diaspora – which aims to promote foster and facilitate diaspora investments and business partnerships in Kosovo. For more about this opportunity, please read here >>.