Foreign trade partner IPD celebrates 10th anniversary

The Import Promotion Desk (IPD) celebrates its 10^th anniversary: Founded in 2012, IPD has been connecting small and medium-sized enterprises from selected developing and emerging countries with European importers. IPD is active in Sri Lanka since 2018. It supports local producers of natural ingredients who want to gain a foothold in the EU market. Since the start of the engagement in Sri Lanka, the IPD-Team has been working closely with partners from the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB). Together they further develop the offer for export companies. IPD contributes its knowledge of the EU market and the demand side and supports the establishment of sustainable export promotion structures.

Win-Win: Both partners benefit from business deals

Over the past ten years, IPD has been able to successfully initiate a large number of business deals between exporters and European importers. As a result, exporters have been able to increase their export turnover, invest in the expansion of their production and create jobs in their region. At the same time, as an import promotion initiative, IPD supports European buyers in their sourcing and opens up new procurement markets for them. Importers also benefit from a business deal, e.g. from high-quality products, attractive supply markets and reliable suppliers. "The IPD's goal is to use business deals to create a basis for long-term trade relationships," mentions Dr. Julia Bellinghausen, head of IPD. "This is the best way we can achieve a sustainable impact for the people in our partner countries."

Commitment in Sri Lanka

A year ago, the regional office of the IPD in Colombo was opened in the premises of the EDB. In this way, IPD now works door to door with the EDB and can plan many projects on short ways. For example, IPD and EDB have cooperated closely on trade fair participation and the organization of the first own country stand at Biofach 2022. In the run-up to the fair, a workshop was held for the participating companies to advise them on their marketing and to prepare them optimally for sales negotiations. Sri Lanka was also present with a country stand at SIAL 2022 in Paris. Another focus of the cooperation is the organization of corporate social responsibility training courses. IPD provides information on legal regulations, important and inquired certifications and prepares export companies for social and environmental market requirements. Numerous joint projects are already being planned for 2023, and the IPD team is looking forward to many more years of cooperation with committed partners!

Import Promotion Desk (IPD)

• Import Promotion Desk (IPD) is an initiative for import promotion in Germany.
• IPD fulfils a hinge function between small and medium-sized enterprises in selected emerging markets and developing countries on the one hand and European importers on the other. The objective is to integrate the partner countries into global trade, thereby contributing towards sustainable economic development in these countries.
• IPD introduces exporters from its partner countries to the EU market and assists them in setting up trading relations. For European importers, the IPD opens up new supply sources in the partner countries and assists them in the procurement process for specific products.
• IPD is currently active in 16 countries: Egypt, Ethiopia, Ecuador, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Indonesia, Colombia, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Nepal, Peru, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
• IPD focusses on specific product groups: fresh produce, natural ingredients for foods, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, sustainable wood products, cut flowers and sustainable tourism.
• IPD has been established and implemented by sequa gGmbH – the globally operating development organisation of German industry and the Federation of German Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services (BGA.).
• IPD is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Further information at www.importpromotiondesk.de