Facilitating the green transition in the Western Balkans at the XXIII. International Economic Fair Mostar

The XXIII. International Economic Fair Mostar was held between 5 and 9 April 2022. The Mostar Fair is one of the most significant and visited economic events in the Western Balkans region. This year, Hungary was the partner country of the Fair, therefore it provided an excellent presentation and business development opportunity for the exhibiting Hungarian innovative companies as well as state-owned companies and institutions active in the export and development promotion space.

Among the Hungarian background institutions dedicated to facilitating export promotion and development policy, the Hungarian Export Development Agency (HEPA), the CED, the Eximbank, the Hungary Helps Agency and the Western Balkans Green Center Nonprofit Llc. (WBGC) presented their mandate and mission as exhibitor. In addition to heads of state of the host and that of Serbia and Croatia, Hungarian Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Péter Szijjártó took part in the opening of the expo this year, who in his speech emphasized the importance of the European integration of the Western Balkans, the promotion of which is one of the priorities of Hungary’s foreign policy.

On the first day of the Fair, a Business Forum, moderated by WBGC’s Managing Director László Örlős, was organized by HEPA, its first panel discussion focused on the environment protection, in particular renewable energy and water management.

On the second day of the event, B2B meetings were held, during which WBGC met local interested business partners and utility company managers to identify possible points of cooperation with Hungarian companies active in the environmental industry.

In addition to the Fair, the WBGC met representatives of the University of Mostar, who together with the University of Pécs recently completed their project “Establishing a Cleantech knowledge center in Bosnia and Herzegovina” supported by the WBGC-2 grant program. The knowledge centre set up under the project uniquely integrates the technical and economic expertise needed to plan and coordinate interventions related to global climate protection goals and future EU accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the implementation of the project, the most important pollutants and emission reduction opportunities were identified in the framework of the situation assessment and needs analysis, and the necessary databases were created. The university experts intend to continue the project with the involvement of local actors.