SIPPO was part of the Swiss Ambassador's first official visit to Durban
SIPPO’s Country Representative in South Africa supported H.E. Ambassador Dr Nicolas Brühl as part of his delegation in his recent official visit to Durban. The visit included a meeting with SIPPO’s BSO partner, Trade & Investment KwaZulu-Natal (TIKZN) at their premises, and it allowed a valuable exposure for SIPPO South Africa.
During the week of 12th – 14th April, the Swiss Import Promotion Programme SIPPO in South Africa, represented by its Country Representative Anna G. Reyneke, joined the official trip of the Ambassador of Switzerland H.E. Dr Nicolas Brühl, to Durban in KwaZulu-Natal province. The visit included a meeting with SIPPO’s BSO partner, Trade & Investment KwaZulu-Natal (TIKZN) at their premises, where the Ambassador and his delegation received a warm welcome from the CEO of TIKZN, Mr Neville Matjie and his team.
During this productive meeting TIKZN presented their export promotion activities, which have been implemented over the past years, in the collaboration with SIPPO. Examples included SIPPO’s support to TIKZN in building capacity of the BSO staff for their preparation and implementation of international trade fairs and selling missions and the successful participation of their companies, as well as broadening sector knowledge in the processed foods and natural ingredients sectors within the BSO. Of particular value was SIPPO’s guidance and support for the development and rollout of TIKZN’s successful Export Marketing Plan training programme for their companies, resulting in two groups of exporters successfully completing the programme to date, which is being implemented by the BSO.
This was an excellent opportunity to showcase the successful collaboration between SIPPO and TIKZN and not only added value for the strategic partnership with the BSO, but also afforded SIPPO greater visibility as a highly valued programme in South Africa.
The TIKZN team also appreciated the opportunity to meet with the Ambassador and the First Secretary of the Embassy of Switzerland, as well as a representative of the Swiss Business Hub Southern Africa – and together with SIPPO, the delegation represented Switzerland in South Africa as a team.