OREANDA-NEWS. The Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) and the KfW Group want to provide small and medium-sized enterprises with more targeted support for their involvement in developing and emerging economies in the future. The two parties signed a cooperation agreement in this respect today in Berlin.

The aim of the agreement is to provide better support for the international activities of German SMEs in emerging and developing economies. KfW and the DIHK intend to combine their resources better for this purpose. They have therefore agreed on closer cooperation between the regional offices of both organisations, to set up a joint working group, and to conduct joint international public relations projects. There are also plans to expand the training offered by both cooperation partners to each other's employees.

“German SMEs are dependent on reliable financing solutions in order to gain footholds in new markets. This cooperation adds an important advisory service to the work of the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad” said Martin Wansleben, Chief Executive of the DIHK. German companies should be encouraged to invest and expand even more in the markets of the future.

“With this partnership, we are responding to the positive trends and growing opportunities in what we refer to as the emerging markets. The close cooperation reinforces the professional support available to German SMEs in particular in these markets, where tackling poverty and commercial success then go hand-in-hand” added Norbert Kloppenburg, a member of KfW's Executive Board.

In addition to providing better support to German SMEs in emerging and developing economies, however, the agreement is also aimed at enhancing the positive development impact of German investment in those countries.

As the umbrella organisation for Germany's 80 Chambers of Commerce and Industry as well as for the Chambers of Commerce Abroad, delegations and representative offices in 85 countries around the world, the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) represents the entire German economy, including in the fields of promoting foreign trade and development cooperation.

The KfW Group helps German industry with the long-term financing of exports and investment. It offers tailored financing solutions to finance German industry's international exports and projects via KfW IPEX-Bank and DEG - Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH. Its services are provided with the support of more than 70 international offices based around the world.