Import Promotion Desk of Germany to partner EDB in export target activities

With the recently-concluded visit of the Sri Lanka delegation headed by Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama organised by the AHK – Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Sri Lanka, EDB Chairperson and Chief Executive Indira Malwatte together with the Sri Lanka Embassy in Germany had extremely fruitful discussions with officers from Import Promotion Desk (IPD), the German initiatives for import promotion of selected countries.

The IPD provides access to the EU market for small and medium sized companies from selected developing and emerging countries.  With the start of the third phase of the project IPD, will add Sri Lanka to the new program.  The IPD will include three of the focused sectors of NES of Sri Lanka, natural ingredients for food, spices and spice concentrates and in the Processed Food sector, fruits and vegetables. The Tourism sector is added as an additional industry and this will benefit the wellness tourism identified in the NES.

Including Sri Lanka in the project by the Federal Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Development shows the importance and close collaboration between the Governments of Germany and Sri Lanka.  The aim is to integrate Sri Lanka into global trade and thus contribute to the sustainable economic development in Sri Lanka. Through IPD support SME exporters will be assisted to enter the European market by connecting importers and promoting business relationships between producers and traders.

This program will be of significant importance to the 2000 Exporter Program launched by the Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade and EDB to increase the exporter base and thereby contribute to achieve the export growth of $ 37.1 billion in 2025.  The implementation of the program by IPD and EDB will benefit those in the provinces, where there will be an expansion in the cultivation and production and where more small farmers could benefit with more contracts and will be in a position to promote production, employment and income.

To quote IPD Head Dr. Julia Hoffmanns: “Our recipe for success is demand orientation.  We are specifically promoting the export of products from developing and emerging countries, for which there is a high demand on the European market. In this way we ensure that small and medium-sized companies establish sustainable trade partnerships.”

The first IPD scoping mission will be conducted in October/November where the EDB with the AHK Office in Sri Lanka will work in close collaboration to identify the Sri Lanka SME companies in the areas of natural ingredients for food, fruits and vegetables, wellness tourism, etc. With this IPD will open up new supply sources from Sri Lanka and support German importers in the purchase process of these focused sectors.