Since they account for 90% of Cameron’s economic fabric, SMEs are of special interest to the Government, especially in the current context marked by the Covid-19 health crisis which has a severe adverse effect on the growth and survival of these companies. The initiative of the Subcontracting and Partnership Exchange of Cameroon (BSTP-CM) to gather SMEs and major project owners, symbolised here by PAK shows the will of the Government of Cameroon to provide a substantial support to these small-sized organisations so as to reduce their vulnerability and improve their competitiveness. Thus is in essence the message of Joseph TCHANA, Secretary General of the Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Social Economy and Handicrafts (MINPMEESA), representing the Minister to formally open the workshop to forge ties between PAK and SMEs. Before him, Modeste AKOO, PAK Technical Advisor No. 1, representing the General Manager, expressed PAK’s pleasure to host the event and his hope to see the meeting be a special place to develop win-win partnerships.

Evariste YAMENI, Executive Director of BSTP-CM and also Chairman of the committee in charge of organising the Suppliers and Services Providers Day in PAK made a brief presentation of his organisation. Established in 2012, the BSTP contributed to upgrading services quality in SMEs, transferring knowledge and providing more than 200 business opportunities which led to 242 contracts for a turnover amounting to more than 41 billion CFA. The event had two major highlights : first, PAK’s framing presentation in which Bruno ONGOLA, Executive in the Operations Department and Jean Brice MVOA, Head of the Hydrography and Meteorology Service, presented, one after the other, the Port infrastructure, its services, its comparative assets, its business opportunities, prerequisites to access port opportunities and the subcontracting opportunities per se.

Then came the meetings per se with B2B meetings in eight domains covering mechanical engineering, surface treatment, electrical engineering, civil engineering, rubber and plastic and timber. All these aimed at finding providers for the maintenance of land and maritime works, spare parts for machinery, the maintenance of nautical and land machinery, various construction and development works, the operation and maintenance of utility networks (water, electricity, oil and gas, cooling and air conditioning). When closing the workshop, BSTP officials, after qualifying the event as ground-breaking for the good organisation and the turnout, expressed the wish that the meetings between participants could lead to service contracts with PAK and that the SMEs thus selected would fulfill their contractual obligations as best as possible.