The purpose behind the mission.

Earlier this month, Newable’s live marketing team delivered a Trade Mission to Belgrade, Serbia on behalf of the Department of International Trade and the ERDF’s Global Growth Project. It was one of hundreds of events that the team organise each year. The purpose of this particular Mission was to introduce a diverse collection of UK FinTech businesses to market opportunities opening up in Central and Eastern Europe, a region that is ripe for FinTech innovation and set for significant growth over the coming years.

The programme

The centrepiece of the trip was the xCEEd2017 Conference organised by Panleven. The event brought together over 150 key decision makers and buyers from 11 Central and Eastern European countries and a market worth over £2.5bn. UK FinTech businesses enjoy a global reputation and are thus perfectly placed to enjoy great export success in this emerging market place. The companies on the mission also benefited from a networking reception at the Ambassador’s residence, Belgrade, networking sessions at the conference itself, as well as a business networking brunch organised by xCEEd2017. The companies were supported throughout by Timothy Poole, Newable’s sector specialist DIT International Trade Adviser, and several DIT offices from Central and Eastern Europe countries, including Poland and Croatia, in what proved to be a very positive team effort.

Positive feedback from delegate companies.

The feedback from both delegates and DIT offices has been excellent. Imran Khan, Head of Communications at Wirepayer, one of the delegates of the trade mission, said: “The market visit to Serbia, organised by the UK government, proved to have had a significant impact on our strategic capacity to address new markets. We were introduced to C-suite decision makers within the region’s leading financial services companies. The overall mission outcome included addressing the most senior decision makers in potential partnership companies, communicating with journalists in Serbia’s most influential publications and broadcast stations, and greater awareness of the addressable market in Serbia. The UK government’s mission to Serbia was a highly targeted and effective mission, which has resulted in new relationships and opportunities that may give our company a genuine competitive advantage in the region. Timothy Poole and his team left no stone unturned and made possible every request for assistance during the visit. Without question, the organisation, planning and importantly, execution, was of a very high order. It is difficult to think how the mission could be improved as the planning and execution was of the very highest grade.” Thomas De Luca, CEO at AMP Credit Technologies, said: “I was able to present our products to appropriate contacts at our target institutions.” Daniel McLaughlin, Head of Public Affairs and International at Smart Pension, added: “We specifically wanted a route into CEE pension markets and this was achieved by DIT. Excellent.” The UK Embassy in Belgrade noted that “The organisation was impeccable and the programme was truly fantastic. The quality of guests that came is rarely seen in our region and the solutions that visiting UK companies offer definitely do have potential among players in our countries.”.

Positive feedback from the DIT

Meanwhile the DIT in Serbia commented “Your proactive ideas, team work, communication, cooperativeness, effectiveness and exceptional support were greatly appreciated and one more time, have contributed significantly to the desired outcome of this ambitious project – “to tap into domain expertise from the UK’s professionals with proven use case experience at the forefront of digital banking” and equally important, to produce a “perfect opportunity to communicate with industry experts who will share their digital transformation journeys while offering real insight and advice to help Serbia & the region maximise their import journey”. Feedback we verbally received from the UK exhibitors, regional delegates supported by DIT CEN and local contacts, confirms that the event’s programme, audience and the overall organisation met and exCEEDed their expectations.”

Results.

Ultimately, of course, it is about UK businesses exporting more goods and services. This will only happen over time. However, many are confident that the trade mission has been great in helping unlocking opportunities. The Fintech Trade Mission to Serbia was part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund’s ‘Global Growth’ Project.