Business Development &
Foreign Trade Promotion
We support companies and institutions in entering international markets, strengthening SMEs and building sustainable business partnerships.
We carry out our projects worldwide.
COGNOS International
Business Development & Foreign Trade Promotion
We support companies and institutions in entering international markets, strengthening SMEs and building sustainable business partnerships. Our programmes combine practical training with business delegations, company visits and targeted B2B matchmaking. The goal is to create concrete business opportunities, enhance the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises, and foster long-term economic cooperation.
The following examples illustrate some of our recent projects.
Projects Europe - COGNOS International
Eastern Europe & Asia
Partnering in Business with Germany
We have been involved in a wide range of projects with Eastern European and Central Asian countries for over two decades. Our portfolio comprises manager training session, business development and B2B matchmaking. Initiated by the GIZ (German Association for International Cooperation), we are implementing the global programme "Partnering in Business with Germany", initiated by the foreign trade promotion initiative of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection.
Our cooperation includes countries in Eastern Europe – Moldavia, Ukraine and Georgia – as well as in Central Asia – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan – and other countries such as India, Vietnam and Mexico. We offer the participants from various industries insights into the German market and support them in the establishment of long-term partnerships with German companies.
Via customised training sessions with German experts, we directly enhance the participants’ management competencies. Our portfolio comprises a variety of sectors customisable to individual requirements: from seminars on leadership over management strategies up to HR and project management, international contract law and corporate finance. Visits to German companies and discussions with German managers offer practice-oriented impressions of time-proven business practices.
Our programme generates direct business contacts and negotiation options paving the path to successful transactions. The programme is offered in various languages including English and Russian. For the participants, it is an investment in the future and a valuable contribution to the development of export business relationships.
Your company would like to participate in this programme? We will be happy to initiate the contact with a matching partner company:
Project runtime: Since 1999
Projects Africa - COGNOS International
AFRICA
Ghana SME Support
German-Ghanaian Training and Exchange Programme
In Ghana, the majority of jobs are offered by the private sector. SMEs fall largely into this sector and are the backbone of the Ghanaian economy. Around 85% of the companies are SMEs, contributing approximately 70% of the Ghanaian gross domestic product (ITC, 2018).
To support Ghanaian SMEs, COGNOS International implemented the German-Ghanaian Training and Exchange Programme. It is supported by Invest for Jobs, an initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, among others.
The German-Ghanaian Training and Exchange Programme aims at creating sustainable jobs. This is to be achieved by strengthening the regional and international competitiveness of Ghanaian companies. We supported 60 SMEs divided into three sector-specified groups: food and agriculture, wood processing and furniture, textile and fashion.
All three programmes comprised workshops in Ghana, individual coachings, mentoring, and a business trip to Germany.
The programme ended with the successful “Made in Ghana Expo” in Accra where all 60 SMEs presented their products. The German Ambassador in Ghana, Mr Daniel Krill, gave the opening speech. As a result of the German-Ghanaian Training and Exchange Programme, international partnerships and business connections were established which are beneficial for both sides. In a first survey, the participating SMEs reported the creation of more than 400 sustainable jobs, many of those for women and youths.
Project runtime: November 2020 till December 2022
Projects Egypt - COGNOS International
EGYPT
Egypt SME Support
To support Egyptian SMEs, COGNOS International implemented the German-Egyptian Training and Exchange Programme. It is supported by Invest for Jobs, an initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, among others. The programme aims at creating sustainable jobs. This is to be achieved by strengthening the regional and international competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises in Egypt.
In the framework of two industry-specific programmes, a total of 40 companies received support by way of workshops, trainings, mentoring, and a business trip to Germany. Both groups, one from the food and agriculture sector, one from the recycling economy, were offered visits to other companies, initiation of individual business contacts, trainings and coachings.
The programme which successfully created international business contacts and partnerships ended with a workshop for all in Cairo.
Project runtime: November 2021 till June 2023
Projects Africa - COGNOS International
AFRICA
Sustainable Business Training for African SME
COGNOS International in cooperation with the GreenTec Capital Africa Foundation (GCAF) offer a joint training programme with focus on sustainable management, aimed at supporting the private economy in Africa, creating jobs, and generating economic and socio-ecological added value.
This programme is supported by the Special Initiative "Decent Work for a Just Transition" by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), also known under the brand Invest for Jobs. Our training for sustainable business management addresses small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups looking to integrate sustainable practices into their enterprise and creating good jobs. The training is offered for the following countries: Egypt, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia.
The first part of the programme consisted of online trainings held in October 2023, available in French and in English. The online sessions dealt with topics such as facing social and ecological challenges, sustaining steering competences, establishment of an ESG culture, and many more. In January/February 2024, the participants took in-house trainings with local and international experts for selected companies.
Project runtime: July 2023 till June 2024
Projects Asia - COGNOS International
China
Chengdu: Hidden Champions Programme
In 2018, COGNOS International signed an agreement with Chengdu SME Enter for the promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises. In the frame of this programme, we conducted two ten-days programmes each in 2018 and 2019 in Hamburg. Topic of these programmes was “Success factors of hidden champions in Germany”. Twenty participants from SMEs in Chengdu took part in each of these programs, which included company visits and training sessions. After the stop of the programme due to corona, the programme is scheduled to be resumed in the next years.
Project runtime: Since 2018
COGNOS International
We are at home in the following industries:
Agriculture
Pharmaceuticals
Automotive
Chemical Industry
Energy
Education
Textile
Forestry
Health services
Finance
Food & beverages
