On September 20 and 21, 2018, 23 Alliance partners met at the modern engineering site of the Bosch Engineering GmbH in Abstatt for the fourth working meeting and took the opportunity to exchange knowledge within the network.
After introductory greetings by the GIZ, Michael Kistner from Bosch introduced the host company and the impressive location in Abstatt to the partners present. Philipp Kruschel (GIZ) presented the Alliance’s successes so far, its strategy and the planned further development of its external appearance. Mattia Wegmann (GIZ), on behalf of Ms. Zehentner-Capell (BMZ), took over the presentation of the BMZ’s plans for a new “Alliance for Product Quality”, which aims to improve the quality standards of products especially from Africa.
The partners discussed the new Alliance website and the administrative office’s plans for an Alliance app. After an entertaining “project pitching” by the GIZ project managers, the partners discussed selected projects in small groups. They agreed that the Alliance should continue to act as a voice for free and fair trade and implement concrete projects to reduce costs and time in cross-border trade.
The workshop was rounded off with a tour of the state-of-the-art development site of Bosch Engineering GmbH on September 21. Many thanks to the Robert Bosch GmbH for the all-round successful organization of the working meeting!
The fifth working meeting of the Alliance is scheduled for March 2019 at the Drägerwerk AG & Co. KGaA in Lübeck. All interested parties are cordially invited to participate and may request further information from the secretariat.
