European biz chambers in Sri Lanka organise B2B organic food conference
ECONOMYNEXT – European and German business chambers in Sri Lanka had organised a virtual interactive session between local organic food suppliers and European buyers.
The ‘Organic Food Production and Exports by SMEs in Sri Lanka’ conference was held in August 2022 attracting over 155 partipants such as SME traders, exporters, medium-scale farmers and other agri-food producers.
The conference had been organised on behalf of the programme by the European Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (ECCSL) in partnership with the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Sri Lanka (AHK Sri Lanka).
The main objective of the programme is to increase awareness about organic products from Sri Lanka within international markets, as well as improve business opportunities between potential European partners and Sri Lankan companies.
European importers and retailers (including Rewe Far East Limited, Biokorntakt Vertriebs GmbH, and
Herbaria Kräuterparadies GmbH from Germany, Tradin Organic Agriculture B.V. from Netherlands, Renee
Voltaire from Sweden, JJM Group from Slovakia, and Greenest from Estonia) who took part in the conference presented an overview of their companies and expressed their interest to source organic products such coconut-based products, tropical fruits, vegetables, and spice products among others from Sri Lanka.
The conference also selected 30 Sri Lankan SMEs who had the criteria of European Buyers for specific product portfolios, EU organic certified status, and other certifications and standards for special B2B matchmaking meetings with European importers.
The representatives who took part in the event were the Country Director of GIZ Sri Lanka & Myanmar – Dr. Petra Mutlu, Charge d’Affaires, Delegation of the European Union – Thorsten Bargfrede, Chairman of Export Development Board – Suresh de Mel, and Chief Delegate of the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Sri Lanka (AHK Sri Lanka) – Marie Antonia von Schönburg and President of European Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (ECCSL) – Arnold Perera. Prof. Buddhi Marambe, Senior Professor in Agriculture, University of Peradeniya. (Colombo/Sep04/2022)
