ROSEMONT, ILL (Sept. 10, 2020)—The 2020 IBC Global Forum, the annual gathering of the International Housewares Association’s International Business Council (IBC), will be held Sept. 22-24 as a series of virtual education sessions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The live-streamed event will offer housewares suppliers new to the international arena or veteran sales executives wanting to grow their global business overviews of key international markets and retailer updates via two sessions each day. 

Sessions will be held at 10 a.m. CT and 2 p.m. CT and will last approximately one hour. Registration is free to all current IHA Regular members. Attendees can register for individual sessions of interest or the entire program.

The programs will feature a variety of global retailers, distributors and market experts presenting information from the perspectives of their markets; networking opportunities after the presentations will allow attendees to ask follow-up questions of the speakers. Market overviews will cover Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Taiwan and the U.K. Retailer updates will feature Canadian Tire, Sodimac , EPA and Amazon India, who has been invited to speak. Strategic Problem-Solving sessions will offer small group networking opportunities for attendees to discuss issues with their peers. The three-day schedule is:

Tuesday, Sept. 22

• Morning Session: Key Market Updates: Spain, UK, France, Italy and Germany
  • Market Update on Spain by Gabriel Soler, co-founder, Yestis
  • Updates on UK, France, Italy and Germany by IHA’s global office representatives
• Afternoon Session: Key Retailer Update: LATAM & EPA
  • Sodimac Retail Update by Patricia Barreiro, GMM, Home Décor, Sodimac
  • EPA (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala) Retail Update by Juan Francisco Espana, director, EPA

Wednesday, Sept. 23

• Morning Session: Key Retailer Updates: Canada & India
  • Canadian Tire Retail Update by Douglas Young, vice president, Merchandising—Living Division, Canadian Tire
  • Amazon India Retail Update by Sidram Kaudaki, business development manager, International Sourcing, Amazon India
• Afternoon Session: Key Market Updates: Costa Rica, Australia & Taiwan / Strategic Problem Solving Networking
  • Costa Rica Key Market Update by Vanessa Sadi, GM, La Cucina Ideal
  • Australia & Taiwan Market Updates by IHA’s global office representatives
  • Strategic Problem Solving—small group networking with industry peers

Thursday, Sept. 24

• Morning Session: Key Market Updates: Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia & India
  • Canada Market Update by Brigette Roy, president, Danesco
  • Mexico, Brazil, Colombia & India Market Updates by IHA’s global office representatives
• Afternoon Session: Strategic Problem Solving 
  • Strategic Problem Solving—small group networking with industry peers
  • Global Forum Wrap-up

“The Global Forum presents our members with a unique opportunity to not just learn about international sales issues but also network with the buyers who are speaking as well as their like-minded exporting colleagues who share a similar goal – to increase global sales,” said Mark Adkison, IHA’s vice president, member and buyer relations. “Although we can’t hold the Global Forum in-person this year, we have created a program similar to the live event and have scheduled networking time, so our members won’t miss this great benefit.”

For further information or to sign up for the IBC Global Forum or contact Lori Szudarek, senior manager, member and international buyer relations, at +1 847-692-0116 or email Lszudarek@housewares.org.