Presented at the Farnesina “In Gara con Noi – Tender Lab”, a new project of Economic Diplomacy to support the internationalization of businesses, especially SMEs, in addition to the many concrete initiatives of information support undertaken in recent years that have led to the creation of tools and services tailored to businesses, such as infoMercatiEsteri (http://www.infomercatiesteri.it/) and ExTender (https://extender.esteri.it), specifically dedicated to international tenders.
The international procurement sector is one of the areas in which the Italian presence is still well below its potential, as also highlighted by the data relating to the awarding of contracts to companies in our country. Hence the decision to use a concrete program designed to strengthen the competitive capacity of our companies in one of the privileged channels for international business.
In Gara con Noi – Tender Lab is an initiative with original features that provides companies with an open laboratory free of charge to experiment together the best tools and approach strategies to successfully present themselves in an international competition. The program is articulated in a training and information path with an extremely operative cut that will be completed with a targeted and free consultancy of about 10 hours per company on specific aspects (contacts with strategic key players, partner search, technical-legal consultancy, bid review, etc.).
The Project is carried out with the operational support of the ICE Agency, which boasts a long experience and specific competence in the field of managerial and technical training for companies and thanks to this it has been able to better interpret the needs and create a tailor-made product for companies.
“Abroad, the support of the Farnesina in this sector can make the difference, as shown by the results of Prometeia’s analysis, presented here just a few months ago, which showed that in 2016 the support action of the diplomatic-consular network on the awarding of tenders and contracts to Italian companies abroad generated 21.4 billion Euros of added value, equal to 1.4% of GDP and 307,000 jobs,” said Minister Alfano.
“The awareness that much can still be done to improve Italian positioning in the international bidding market has led us to devise a concrete and operational tool that can fill the knowledge gap on the mechanisms, rules and procedures of participation, factors that still discourage the presence, especially of SMEs, in international competition.”
Acquiring skills and experimenting with the opportunities generated by major international events – such as Expo Dubai 2020 and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar – and in the procurement of the main international bodies (World Bank, United Nations, etc.) are the cornerstones of the “In Gara con Noi – Tender Lab” programme. The companies that will take part in the programme, once trained, will be able to get in direct contact with specialists in the sector and managers of the contracting stations. The entire route is divided into training and information modules that will be carried out in various Italian cities in the period February-May 2018.
Articolo pubblicato su: Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale
