What does the Division for Global Subsidiaries within the International Cooperations Department actually do?
The Division for Global Subsidiaries was set up in 2020 as a division of the IB´s central International Cooperations Department and helps coordinate these subsidiaries.
At that time, the IB had already been operating several foreign subsidiaries for many years, which already had a long history. These include IBETH in Turkey, IB Mthiebi in Georgia, ENAIP IB in Switzerland and the IB Polska Foundation in Poland. The main tasks of the Division for Global Subsidiaries are to provide administrative and content-related support for these subsidiaries and to act as an interface to all activities at the IB Germany. The subsidiaries are also docked to the headquarter because the IB is shareholder and/or founder of these branches.
What exactly is the role of the Head of Division?
My tasks are very varied and sometimes differ enormously from country to country. Overall, it's about the administrative processes in the companies with the interface to IB Germany. This can include content-related, project-related but also legal and financial aspects. Reporting to the IB's supervisory bodies is also organised by me and my team.
In Turkey, I am on the management board of IBETH together with Mrs. Eda Karsel. We are responsible for the activities and the first point of contact both in Turkey and in Germany. I am a member of the board of the IB Polska Foundation, together with Kerstin Ewert and Niels Spellbrink. This makes me part of the foundation's supervisory body. Here, too, I am the contact person for the Foundation's concerns at the headquarter.
In Switzerland (ENAIP IB) and Georgia (IB Mthiebi), I am responsible for coordinating the respective content and also for organisational purposes.
It is important to mention that my task is to meet the locations and our colleagues in the branches regularly on site and to represent the IB Germany there as well. This includes official appointments, networking events and internal company meetings.
Who is part of the team?
The team in Frankfurt is made up of myself as Head of the Division, Mr. Kadri Akdemir as Finance Officer and Mrs. Carina Russo Valdigem as Administrative Assistant for the Division.
What are the prospects in the countries?
The prospects are very different in each country, especially as the tasks are also very wide-ranging. In Georgia, for example, the IB runs the school "IB Mthiebi" together with its partner. The prospects here are definitely to be seen in the school sector and the respective market conditions. In Turkey, IBETH has specialised in recruiting skilled workers for the German labour market over the last 1,5 years. There is also a project in the ecological dimension in which the IB would like to get involved in sustainability projects in Turkey. In Poland, the foundation is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. The foundation would like to further expand and continue its social projects for children, young people, senior citizens and refugees. ENAIP IB in Switzerland has placed a strong focus on educational programmes in the area of vocational training- and language courses. However, a new project is also currently being developed in Switzerland to recruit skilled labour from abroad in cooperation with the IB Germany.
I am very happy to be able to work together with all the teams in the foreign subsidiaries and to better understand not only the respective markets and circumstances, but also the country specifics - culturally, linguistically and politically.
Find further information about the subsidiaries on the following websites:
ib-polska.pl
ib-turkey.com/de/
ibmthiebi.ge
www.enaip-ib.ch
