In the autumn 2021, IPD took up residency in its office on the premises of the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) in Colombo. The IPD hub is now set to be officially opened on 27th January in a ceremony attended by Sri Lankan Minister of Trade Hon. Bandula Gunawardena, German Ambassador Holger Seubert and Gregor Wolf, Deputy Managing Director of the Federation of German Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services (BGA).
“The first few weeks have already shown how well we work together as next-door neighbours. We are able to plan, discuss and implement many new projects – some of them already initiated – with short communication lines. Looking as it were from the outside in, we are able to offer support in organising and shaping the projects and to contribute our knowledge of the EU market and of demand aspects directly.”
- Linda Mense, Regional Expert IPD Hub Sri Lanka
items on the joint agenda of EDB and IPD include participation in international trade fairs, the concept of country pavilions and pre-fair workshops in order to advise the companies on their marketing and prepare them optimally for sales negotiations. Further capacity building measures are in-person and online seminars on corporate social responsibility, market intelligence and market research instruments. In order to maximise their reach and impact, many of the capacity building measures are conducted on a “train the trainer” basis.
In addition, the IPD hub will investigate a possible expansion of IPD involvement in Sri Lanka. To date, IPD activities have concentrated exclusively on the field of natural ingredients. Expanding into the sustainable tourism and fresh fruit and vegetables sectors will therefore constitute a further task in hand for the regional office in the months ahead.
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