Sri Lanka Export Development Board Trade Information Portal capacity building

Together with the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) we launched www.srilankabusiness.com. The goal was to enhance the availability of market information to Sri Lankan exporters and product and company information to foreign buyers. Next to that, the EDB was a front runner with the request to embed ecommerce features in the Trade Information Portal.

Products

Year

2007 – 2010

Country

Sri Lanka

Type of activity

  • Market Intelligence
  • Strategy Development
  • Trade Intelligence Portals

Year

2007 – 2010

Country

Sri Lanka

Type of activity

  • Market Intelligence
  • Strategy Development
  • Trade Intelligence Portals
The Sri Lankan Trade Information Portal consists of two parts:
  • an exporter portal focusing on all relevant info for (potential) Sri Lankan exporters.
  • a buyer portal for (potentially) interested international buyers.
The exporter portal provides easy access to:
  • A comprehensive export guide.
  • A dynamic export readiness checker.
  • Market information on priority products and new markets.
  • Trade facilitation information.
  • Relevant news and trade event information.
  • Support services for Sri Lankan exporters.
The buyer portal presents:
  • A database with validated Sri Lankan exporters.
  • Information on why to source from Sri Lanka.
  • Detailed product profiles showcasing Sri Lanka’s exportable offer to buyers, including unique value propositions, supply details, seasonality and more.
  • An eMarketplace to buy or inquire about products available.
  • Relevant news and trade event information.
  • Support services for international buyers.
As part of the project, capacity was built within EDB in areas such as trade information analysis & reporting, portal content development & management, website usability, developing a digital marketing strategy, organisational strengthening and sustainably embedding the portal.

Activities

  • Focus groups and stakeholder sessions held to assess priority needs.
  • Development of functional and graphic design of Trade Information Portal.
  • Project development and intervention design to develop a sustainable Portal focusing on the information needs of Sri Lankan exporters and international buyers.
  • Good practice sharing sessions.
  • Capacity building for content development and effective market report formats with the project team at Sri Lanka Export Development Board.
  • Coaching towards the successful technical development of the Trade Information Portal.

Results

  • The Trade Information Portal welcomes around 100.000 unique visitors per month.
  • The Portal maintains a top tree position in Google.
  • The Portal is good for 20 validated enquiries per day.
  • The Portal contributes to the promotion of exporters and matchmaking with foreign buyers, and it has become a good practice for other trade promotion bodies.