SMEs meet foreign buyers at Imexpro

One of the main problems faced by SMEs in Sri Lanka is that the contact they come into with foreign buyers is limited. To deal with this, the Imexpro 2008 import export promotion exhibition was inaugurated at the BMICH recently. As its name implies, the exhibition feature a wide cross-section of players in the foreign trade arena, awarding opportunities for interaction and marketing.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, chairman of the Ceylon Chambers of Commerce Mahen Dayananda called it a “truly public private partnership in every sense of the word”. The platinum sponsors of the exhibition, HSBC, represented by CEO David Griffith also stressed the need for the increased involvement of the private sector in the foreign trade sector, “it is an excellent opportunity to meet prospective business partners and even to form joint ventures,” he said. Speaking to The Sunday Times FT, Harsh D. Pathberiya of the Export Development Board says that the exhibition has had a definite positive effect. “The best thing is that we get to meet foreign buyers up front and there has been an increase in our transactions because of it,” he said. On the other hand, the foreign suppliers were making their presence felt as well. Singaporean health services, SingHealth say that although this is the first time they are at the exhibition, it should be a good chance to meet officials from the public and private health sector. “We want to collaborate with the local health sector to offer our assistance in the specialties that we offer,” said Vijaya Sreenidhi, Senior Director of SingHealth. SingHealth is a public sector firm which offers cutting-edge operations in various fields. According to Sreenidhi, they are willing to share, know-how, expertise and even equipment with their Lankan counterparts. Interestingly, they are also offering medical consults via cross-border communication as well as training for local doctors in Singapore.