Corporate procurement exhibiton of social enterprises

On October 11, 2023, in cooperation with Destekchi social entrepreneurship platform Education HUB held “Corporate procurement exhibiton of social enterprises”.

The exhibition took place within “Azerbaijani Impact days” tailored events which are being held between October 10-13. “Azerbaijani Impact days” event is implemented within the framework of the “Collaborate for Impact” program of the European Venture Philanthropy Association and funded by the European Union. The official partner in Azerbaijan is Education HUB.

The exhibition was held in two directions. During the formal part the exhibition was being opened and invited guests hold speeches:

Gulnara Ismailova, Program Manager of Education HUB, made an opening speech. During her speech, she emphasized: “Azerbaijan Impact Days” implemented within the framework of the “Collaborate for Impact” program is a first in our country. The corporate procurement exhibition is one of the series of events. The main purpose of the exhibition is to establish relations between corporates and social entrepreneurs. “

Etibar Khidirov, the founder of the Destekchi social entrepreneurship platform, noted: “We were able to organize the corporate procurement exhibition, which we held for the first time last year, in a larger format in partnership with Education HUB this year.”

Yuksel Mutallimov, Executive Director of Baku SMB House, said during his speech: “As Baku SMB House, we are always ready to support social entrepreneurs. It is no coincidence that the corporate procurement exhibition is held here today.”

Heydar Süleymanov, director of PASHA Bank’s Commercial Banking department, “Establishing corporate relations is very important for us as PASHA Bank. It is no coincidence that the exhibition of corporate procurement is also carried out with the financial support of PASHA Bank.” noted during his speech.

Shamsiyya Mustafayeva, Advisor on Sustainable Development Policy, made a presentation on ESG. During her speech, she emphasized that in international practice, organizations and corporations are transitioning from CSR to ESG. Later, economist Samir Aliyev shared the experience of other countries about corporate procurement and brought examples from international experience. Social entrepreneur Ramtig Alizadeh shared his experience by giving information about Lakeside Garden Ismailli agrotourism subject.

Then the forum continued with the informal part. During this part the exhibition was being opened to everyone and social and agro tourism enterprises had a chance to meet with corporates. Furthermore, social entrepreneurs attended the capacity building training on the topic of “Effective ways of sales” by trainer Orkhan Chobanzadeh.

In total, about 40 social and agro tourism enterprises exhibited their eco-friendly, innovative and organic products. There were about 500 visitors who took part on the exhibition.

Thanks to SMBDA, PASHA Bank for supporting and close collaboration on the exhibition.