Sri Lanka’s COSMI in South Asia-European MSME alliance
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From left: Chairman of the EIVHGI - International Economic Council Prof. Dr. Norbert W. Knoll von Dornhoff; EIVHGI President Dr. Johann Forstinger and EIVHGI Secretary Oliver Knoll von Dornhoff hold the signed EIVHGI –COSMI Agreement on March 29 in Vienna. Top Right: President of Sri Lanka’s Confederation of Micro, Small and Medium Industries (COSMI) Nawaz Rajabdeen, Bottom Right: Chairman of the COSMI Governing Council Macky Hashim.
A pact between Sri Lanka’s Confederation of Micro, Small and Medium Industries (COSMI) and a European entrepreneur group inked in Vienna, Austria has opened the doors for a European knowledge transfer for the Lankan MSMEs.
“Our Cooperation Agreement with Hungary-based European Association for Trade – Crafts – Industries (EIVHGI) aims at supporting the MSMEs in the entire South Asian region from which the Sri Lankan MSMEs too are invited to benefit,” said President COSMI Nawaz Rajabdeen in a media release.
“The aim of the path breaking COSMI- EIVHGI Agreement is to promote ‘business partnerships’ between Europe and South Asian countries. As an emerging market, South Asia holds great potentials –after all the region’s economies are driven by their MSMEs, totalling more than 70 million. Partnerships as these therefore are the much needed spur for the region’s MSMEs to step into next levels. This agreement is also an important milestone in post-COVID industrial and skills development for Sri Lankan MSMEs as it also facilitates premium European trade, craft, industry knowledge transfer to them. We at COSMI are very much looking forward to work with EIVHGI especially given the Trade–Crafts–Industry footprint of the Budapest based EIVHGI,” Mr. Rajabdeen added.
Founded in 1980, EIVHGI (Europäischer Interessenverband Handel-Gewerbe-Industrie) is a powerful Trade – Crafts – Industries entrepreneur group represented within one of the most historic Chambers of Commerce of Europe-the Budapest based Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The signing of the agreement took place in Vienna, Austria on March 29 between President of the EIVHGI, Johann Forstinger and the Chairman of the EIVHGI – International Economic Council Prof. Dr. Norbert W. Knoll von Dornhoff andCOSMI President Rajabdeen.
After signing the agreement which became effective on April 4, EIVHGI President Johann Forstinger commented: “Especially during the COVID pandemic and its threatening consequences for SMEs worldwide, our SME promoting organisations wish to send a clear signal of how important it is that business organisations cooperate internationally and take action together to help SMEs to overcome the crisis effectively while supporting the economic development in their own interest and that of their employees.”