Switzerland
Valuable insights and expanded network for SIPPO's partner BSOs at SIPPO's Import Forum
The seven officials from four of SIPPO’s BSO partners (TIKZN, Wesgro, ECDC and CECOSA) were highly impressed with their participation and expressed their appreciation for attending this year’s SIPPO Import Forum in Lausanne.
The BSO officials were able to take away additional valuable information on challenges and opportunities, in terms of both sustainability and digitalisation, through hands-on experiences shared by experts from Serbia and Ukraine, as well as during exchanges with the BSOs from the other SIPPO partner countries, during sector specific breakaway sessions.
Introductory, one-on-one sessions between BSO representatives and Swiss import institutions and importers, as well as between BSO representatives from the different countries gave the opportunity to meet and exchange briefly, with the possibility to expand their discussions afterwards.
As an extension to the Import Forum, a programme of site visits to Swiss importers and import institutions from the six SIPPO sectors was organized on the day following the Forum, which offered a further opportunity for the BSO officials to network and to gather valuable sector and market information on the Swiss market. These company visits were described by the BSO representatives as informative and facilitated valuable networking with Swiss importers and provided insights into the different company’s operations.
Overall, the Import Forum was described as most useful, insightful and a pivotal platform for the BSO representatives who could return home with a wealth of information, experiences and an increased network of contacts from importers, as well as with BSO officials from other SIPPO partner countries, to expand collaboration and exchange going forward.
Comments from the South African BSO participants included the following:
“The experience exceeded my expectations. I gained valuable insight from the forum and made key connections, networking opportunities with other BSOs are my highlight”. “I am ready to implement some of the ideas I have learned from the engagements I have heard from other BSOs”.
“I made excellent connections throughout. This initiative has been instrumental in forming new, valuable networks and knowledge sharing”.
“The Import Forum organized by the Swiss Import Promotion Programme (SIPPO) has been a pivotal platform. It facilitated valuable networking with Swiss importers and other Business Support Organisations (BSOs) from various countries”.
