“It was most informative!”, “the most useful workshop I have attended in recent times, under the most hospitable environment!” and “Kudos to GIZ for organizing such a good workshop!” were only a handful of the positive feedback received during and post the success that has been the ITC workshop this year, hosted by GIZ for the second consecutive time.

The aim of the training workshop was to build the capacity of firms or management positions that are interested to export their products (but need targeted technical assistance to take the next step in business development) or wish to enter new markets. The content of the workshop included elements on how to obtain various export documents, such as Certificates of Origin, bills of lading, commercial invoices, etc., how to improve access to loans, and how to leverage export opportunities offered by diaspora communities. A group of 45 participants from different national and international organizations received this training, among them members of Chamber, Associations, and officials of ministries representing various sectors like garments, textile, electronics, IT, fisheries, Jute, leather, pharmaceuticals, and footwear.

Photograph: From the left, Mr. DanielSeidl BGCCI, Mr. William Hannah EU, Ms. Promita Sengupta GIZ, Ms. Elke Shrestha GIZ and Mr. Mathieu Lamolle ITC.

The workshop was spread out into two days: first day aimed to enable participants to do a market analysis and research the internet and how to apply ITC’s web-based tools such as Market Access Map, Trade Map and more importantly, the Standards Map. It also included a presentation on identifying trade opportunities provided by the diaspora and how to engage diaspora in broader context i.e. as entrepreneurs/investors; capacity builders, ambassador/advocates etc. The second day focused more on the Standards Map, voluntary sustainability standards and their role in international trade. In the long run, this training has the potential to translate into tangible export orders and other related firm-level economic benefits.

The training was conducted by Mr. Mathieu Lamolle who has over 10 years of experience in international trade, market access and sustainable development issues. Mr. Lamolle emphasised on the impact of the European export market compared to the rest of the world and said, “The EU nation countries contributed 55.13% towards the total export of Bangladesh, with Germany shouldering an impressive 15.45% on its own, compared to the US, which contributed 19.3% based on ITC Trade Map data end of fiscal year 2012.†The graph below derived from an ITC tool encapsulates the statistics for the fiscal year ending 2012:-

Mr. Lamolle, having already trained contemporaries earlier in 2012 from similar organisations and background, comfortably blended with the participants and was seen to be able to create an interactive session on both days, full of information and knowledge sharing.

Mosaddek Ali Shah, a Senior Executive from the Export department of Square Consumer and a participant, post workshop, thanked all the organisers and commented, “Thanks to Mr. Lamolle for his excellent presentation and to GIZ for their sincere, continuous and relentless effort to support & develop different sectors of Bangladesh.†His response was resonated throughout the rest of the participants as well.

Ms. Promita Sengupta, the acting Country Director for GIZ, in her introductory speech, had motivated the participants by encouraging everyone to work closely together, especially in a developing country like Bangladesh, which almost completely relies on its export. The chief guest, the European Union’s Ambassador to Bangladesh, His Excellency Mr. William Hannah also highlighted in his keynote speech how the potentials for exports of non-textile industrial products with a very liberal originating rule still remain untapped.

The closing ceremony also took place at the German House at the end of the second day workshop on the 27th June, where certificates were awarded to the participants by Elke Shrestha, the acting Program Coordinator for PSES. This workshop was organised by GIZ for the second consecutive year in collaboration with ITC and there are plans to conduct more trainings in 2014 and 2015.

The total workshop was facilitated by Noushin Safinaz, Senior Advisor (PSES, GIZ) and the PSES PR team.