#HOTCS: Avanti Coonghe, Colombo

“People know me as an avid scuba diver, and my experience as a scuba diver has helped me as a trade commissioner. In scuba diving, you’re instructed to always go with a buddy, so that you can help one another out should issues arrive, and ‘Trust in yourself and in others.’ Companies have to be confident in their business strategy in order to be successful, but they also need to trust the people who are on the journey with them, like one of our trade commissioners. I feel this is well reflected in the case of a Canadian client in the IT industry to whom I provided support– where their own strategy combined with the trust the company placed in the TCS led to their success.

“This IT company was referred to me through our regional office in Halifax. They were in the early stage of discussions with a Sri Lankan telecommunications service provider and were looking for support to ship their servers and equipment to a leading ICT trade show in Sri Lanka for demos. Over a series of interactions, I briefed them on the economic and political environment in Sri Lanka. This was important, as it helped this IT firm develop their contract with the majority state-owned entity in a way that factored in how the market operates, who the stakeholders are, and the complexities and risks that exist. I also assisted our Canadian client with their request to bring their equipment to Sri Lanka duty free, by engaging with the Sri Lankan government.

“When I heard that the sales contract was signed, I was really satisfied and proud for several reasons. Apart from being one of the first successes in the ICT sector, Sri Lanka can be a challenging market to penetrate given the internal dynamics in the country, so even the smallest success means a lot to improving Canada’s trade presence. Furthermore, the contract was developed in a way that the same technology can be marketed to other competitor telcos in Sri Lanka, thereby generating more business for this Canadian company.

“The technology of our client was showcased at the Infotel ICT trade event in Colombo. Seeing many young gaming enthusiasts, passionately playing video games running on their platform was very exciting. For these gamers, especially at international tournaments, a delay by even a second matters, so it was great to see how this Canadian company revolutionized the gaming industry and how I played a part in bringing that to Sri Lanka. ”