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Germany - German solar panel company shines internationally

EU trade deals lower barriers to trade, boosting the exports of small Franconian provider of solar technology.

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IBC SOLAR recently supplied panels for one of the highest installations of any photovoltaic plant in Colombia – on the rooftops of the capital, Bogotá.

Entry into the Colombian market was made possible by the 2013 trade agreement between the EU and Colombia. The same can be said of El Salvador and the Dominican Republic. South Africa, with whom the EU also has a trade agreement, is also an important market for the company. From 2013 to 2015, IBC SOLAR increased its turnover in these countries by a whopping €2m combined. In addition, at least five jobs in Germany depend on business in these markets.

"Without the trade agreements, we would not be active in such markets," says Jörg Ebel, Head of Public Affairs at IBC SOLAR.

The solar panel company would also like to enter the Brazilian market. Its founder, Udo Möhrstedt, explains: "The climate there is just as suitable for solar power generation. But the bureaucracy involved in import licensing and plant registration as well as the high customs duties mean that we have to decline the business requests that we are increasingly receiving from the country without even considering them. We simply cannot see a way to devise a sustainable market strategy."

"Without the trade agreements, we would not be active in such markets."
 

Jörg Ebel, Head of Public Affairs, IBC SOLAR

Discover more about EU trade relations with countries in Central America and South America as well as with South Africa.