The GreenToCompete Hub Peru launched the “Positioning Sustainable Products in the International Market (MBeC)” coaching programme on 17 May 2022. The event was jointly organized by The International Trade Center (ITC) and the Association of Exporters (ADEX).

The president of ADEX, Julio Pérez Alvan, opened the event with a keynote presentation.

He expressed that a change in the way in which small and medium businesses (SMEs) should face in the future is imperative. “ADEX’s commitment is to continue strengthening the knowledge of the business sector regarding international green markets and generate environmental sustainability awareness and businesses responsibility,” he emphasized.

The MBeC programme consists of different modules including marketing and branding, export management and logistics, website and social media marketing. Uniquely this programme also offers a training about sustainable packaging and shipment – which is an important factor to many customers in the international markets. The Hub will coach  13 companies in Peru, and they come from a wide range of sectors such as agribusiness, manufacturing, and non-timber forestry sector.

The beneficiary companies will be coached by ITC experts, specialists from the CIEN-ADEX Economics and Business Research Center, and students from the ADEX Institute, who will accompany and support them throughout the process.

The director of CIEN-ADEX, Edgar Vasquez Vela, highlighted that this the first and only GreenToCompete Hub in South America and, from Peru, the ambition is to contribute to the country’s business machinery and thus grow in such a way that these tools and knowledge can continue to spread and be used by all SMEs. “With the implementation of this module, there is a large market whose payment is better and is increasingly demanding” he added.

The ITC representative, Ana Batalhone, elaborated on 4 pillars of the global network, namely innovation, scalability, sustainability, and advocacy. “We inspire and advise business support institutions to develop green services for SMEs and thus contribute to promoting a favorable business ecosystem in the green transition,” she said.

Also participating in the presentation of the module were the ITC official, Fiorella Pizzini; the Marketing specialist, Daniel Chicoma, and the Research and Development manager of the firm Essential Oils Peru (EOP), Georgette Callirgos.  Ms. Callirgos, who has participated in the previous coaching programme, shared her views about the benefits to start e-business, and how the learning process helped her to identify the more competitive products to offer online and how to present them to the international customers.