A Dubai-owned, Turkey-based manufacturer of refrigerators has come to the conclusion that, in order to expand into Europe and other markets, it needs to set up a direct exporting department.

To date, the business has been hugely successful in the domestic market and has sold reasonably well through distributors in some neighboring countries such as Greece, Georgia, Armenia, and Bulgaria. You have been appointed as their new direct exporting manager. The intention is to target the European Union first. Your first task is to find distributors in the target markets. How will you approach this task? What resources should you access to find distributors in these markets? Once established, what is the best way to maintain solid relations with foreign distributors? Finally, what payment method should the business use for most of its prospective markets? 1239