4. November - 7. November 2002

Agro-Ind European Union - West Africa Agro Business Meeting

The purpose of Agro-Ind 2002 is to support the agro-business sector in the ECOWAS region by bringing together West African and European companies to discuss potential co-operation on pre-identified projects.
The main focus of the event is one-to-one business meetings. Typically more than 1000 such meetings are scheduled over a period of 4 days. The one-to-one meetings are to discuss pre-identified projects which are selected as a result of a 12-month preparatory process:

•         Project identification and screening in West Africa

•         Partner identification and screening in Europe

•         Exchange of profiles and matching EU-West African interests

•         One-to-one meetings

The benefits to both European and African businesses are:

• 100-125 new agro-industry projects from the 15 ECOWAS Countries

• Scheduled one-to-one private meetings to discuss these projects with potential partners

• ECOWAS country information booths (the agro-industry sector, FDI support, legislation, etc.)

• Access to development finance institutions, the European Investment Bank (EIB), and EC private sector support programmes

• Round table and workshops on topical issues

• Follow-up project support

• Comprehensive agro-industry sector report with:

• Sector developments and investment opportunities in the region

• Summary profiles on each ECOWAS country

• CD-ROM containing all data

More than 200 company owners of the Baltic IT sector attended the first European Business Panel in the Parliament of Lithuania, Vilnius

Dr. Naktinis, Dr. Ulrich Daldrup. HP Chairman Jörg H. Harms and former Prime Minister Andrius Kabilius

1st European Business Panel
in the Parliament Building
Vilnius/Lithuania with:

Panel members:

Former US President George Bush welcomed by the Mayor of the City of Aachen and CEO of GFE, Ulrich Daldrup,  at   GLOBAL PANEL CONFERENCE 1995 in Aachen. GFE was a main sponsor of the international GLOBAL PANEL Conference, held every year from 1995 till 1998 in Aachen and The Hague.

In 1998 Global Panel had been organized a last time in Aachen. The Prime Minister of Ivory Coast, Exc.  Daniel Kablan Duncan addressed a key-note speech on economic relations of Central African countries with the EU as a consequence of the EU enlargement.

Since 1980 GFE organizes the Industrial Forum of the European Commission

The ECOWAS, UDEAC, CEEAC and European Commission Economic Event

The leading European Union - Africa Conference for the promotion of the industrial and trade is the Industrial Forum EU - Africa. This annual meeting of European and African industrialists and businessmen brings together every year more then 500. In 1976 the first Forum was sponsored jointly by UNIDO and the European Commission in 1976 in Dakar. This first attempt to create a Forum to bring European investors to Africa and to open European markets to African products.
The first Forum was an un-attended success. Since 1976 this Forum is repeated every two years in Dakar and since 1985 every two years also in Central-Africa (Yaoundé or Libreville).

GFE is contracted every year since 1980 to organize and to promote this event.

GFE has gained in these years professionalism with the organization of Forums, conferences and exhibitions. The European Commission contracts GFE also for very specialized conferences, such as Mining, Food industry, construction industry, wood and timber etc.

GFE is able to organize complex conferences in many places of the world thanks to a flexible and experienced international team of conference and marketing experts.

EXPO 2000

GFE was a consultant for the World exhibition EXPO 2000 for the countries Kenya, Madagascar, Djibouti, Eritrea, Tanzania, Uganda and the Region of St. Petersburg (Russia). German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder visited the Nations stand of Kenya, realized by GFE, on the day of toe official opening of the EXPO 2000, June 1, 2000

Photo: German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder visiting the Africa Exhibition Hall, realized by GFE

With the opening of the first automobile exposition of LENEXPO, a nice car was put at the entrance of the new LENEXPO exhibition hall

St. Petersburg Exposition - LENEXPO

KfW contracted GFE to help LENEXPO to organize its first Automobile Exposition

President Fidel Castro, after hours of discussion, insisted to get the FIFA-tie of Global Panel  mission leader Ulrich Daldrup

In 1997 GFE organized the first Global Panel conference with EU/Cuba Business Meeting in Cuba. An important delegation of European entrepreneurs attended that important meeting in Havana. Meetings and lectures were held by President Fidel Castro and members of the Cuban cabinet of ministers. President of Cuba, Fidel Castro, himself had attended the preparations of this Panel.
In December 1997 and in December 1998 Cuba attended the Global Panel Conferences in Aachen with important delegations. New business opportunities and investment of EU companies in Cuba resulted from these meetings, that found a broad press coverage.

ZITF of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (1993 - 1998)

In only five years the experts of GFE delegated to the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) in Bulawayo reorganized completely the Fair, that after only three years the Fair Company realized profits for the first time. New fairs, new marketing, training of the staff members in co-operation with the Fair of Stuttgart, new products, investment in the fair ground and the set-up of the halls, international selling made this Fair one of the most attractive in South-East Africa. GFE and its experts received high recognition for this success. Special studies have been realized:

• preparation of a marketing-mix-concept

• Evaluation of the South-South trade promotion effects

• Training programmes for the Zimbabwean management

The project was funded by German GtZ

Long term advice to the General manager of the Fair in order to restructure the fair, train the management, acquisition of exhibitors from EU countries and promote the Fair.

Organisation of the participation of the Chamber of Handicrafts of Fes (Chambre d'Artisanat) and the Chamber of Handicrafts of Frankfurt at the exhibition. Organisation of the stands and of a PR by-programme.

Re-organsation and modernisation of the management and the marketing concept. This project was funded by UNIDO.