SMIDO Organised Programs

Technological and Business Development Services Fair-2009
The 2009 Technological and Business Development Services Fair was held at Prempeh Assembly Hall on the dates of July27-29th, 2009.  The fair was a venue for academic, financial and corporate institutions as well as Suame artisans themselves to showcase products and services.  Attendees for the fair included: Unibank, Trans-National Insurance Brokers Ltd., European Trucks and Trailer Parts (ETTP), National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), as well as various works from within Suame Magazine. 

Over a 1000 peope attended the 3 day fair with the climax being the satkeholders diaglogue with representatives of Corporate and Acdemic Institutins present.

Purpose of Technological and Business Development Services Fair

There were several purposes for the Technological and Business Development Services Fair.  The main one was to foster an environment of interaction between the formal and informal sectors of the economy.  Doing so would allow artisans in Suame Magazine to be exposed to technologies that could help them improve their businesses, and also allow organizations and individuals in the formal sector to marvel at some of the accomplishments of the informal sector.
The fair was suitably named the Technological and Business Development Services Fair, because in addition to using appropriate technologies within the Magazine, artisans need to also have an understanding of business management and development practices.  It is in this vein that SMIDO invited organizations such as NBSSI and the KNUST business school to give presentations, both of which were attended by artisans in large numbers.
Another important event in the fair was the Stakeholders’ Dialogue that was held on the third day.  Participants ranged from governmental bodies to private insurance firms to academic institutions.  The purpose of this gathering was to identify potential partnerships in the areas of: health and safety, business management, technical support and vocational training.  Although SMIDO has been making strides with its training arm, SMATI (Suame Magazine Automatics Technical Institute), the organization recognizes that the way forward is to develop institutional partnerships with other organizations that have ideas as to the development of Suame Magazine.