Egodage was addressing his top officials on August 21 during a preparatory meeting for August 24-26 pioneering ATPF sessions in Colombo.
The specially designed logo for the CEOs meeting in Sri Lanka is scheduled to be launched by President Maithripala Sirisena at Hotel Taj today. Three EDB MoUs with three Asian TPOs - that is Sri Lanka-Hong Kong’s HKTDC, Sri Lanka-Korea’s KOTRA and Sri Lanka-Thailand’s DITP will be signed today.
“This is the first time that this ATPF CEOs meeting is held in Sri Lanka. EDB is hosting the 28th CEO meeting of the ATPF in Sri Lanka from 24-26th August 2015 in partnership with HSBC” said EDB Chairman Egodage.
“ATPF is a gathering of Trade Promotion Organizations (TPOs) in the Asian region consisting of 24 member countries and was initiated by Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) the Japanese government related organisation that works to promote mutual trade and Investment between Japan and the world. The objective of ATPF is to enhance trade in the region and strengthen networking among members. The CEOs of member TPOs from Japan, Sri Lanka, China, Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, India, Nepal, Macao, Chinese Taipei, Vietnam, Australia, Indonesia, Mongolia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Singapore, Cambodia, Brunei, Laos, and Myanmar meet once a year to discuss important issues on international trade promotion and other relevant matters, including results of joint projects and plans for future events. Around 40 member delegates from 19 ATPF member countries are taking part in this event with other invitees - foreign and local.”
The EDB hosted technical trade sessions will continue on August 25-26 at the same venue with the participation of 40 international delegates. According to Geneva’s International Trade Centre, ATPF is a world’s leading regional TPO grouping ranking along with Red Ibero-Americana (Spanish-American TPO network), the Groupement Européen pour la Promotion du Commerce International (GEPCI, the European Grouping for International Trade Promotion).