Today the Farnesina presents “In Gara con Noi – Tender Lab “, a new Economic Diplomacy project aimed at supporting the internationalisation of companies and especially of SMEs, which adds on to the many initiatives providing concrete information launched in the past few years that have led to developing instruments and services tailored on the needs of enterprises, such as for example infoMercatiEsteri (http://www.infomercatiesteri.it/) and ExTender (https://extender.esteri.it), specifically dedicated to international tenders.
Precisely the sector of international tenders is one of the areas in which Italy is still greatly underrepresented, as shown by the data on the adjudication of contracts to Italian companies. This is what motivated the decision to launch a specific programme to boost our companies’ competitive capacity in one of the privileged channels for international business.
In Gara con Noi – Tender Lab is an original initiative that offers companies, free of charge, a laboratory in which to jointly experiment the instruments and strategies to optimise their participation in international competitions and be successful. The programme includes a training and briefing process specifically targeted on operations, which will then be completed with a 10-hour gratuitous and targeted counselling service on specific aspects (contacts with strategic key players, search for partners, technical and legal counselling, auditing offers, etc.), tailored for every company.
The Project was developed with the operational support of the ICE Agency, which boasts a long-standing experience and specific competence in the sector of corporate management training and techniques and, thanks to this expertise, is capable of best interpreting the needs of companies and developing a customised product for them.
“Abroad, the support of the Foreign Ministry in this sector can make the difference, as proven by the results of the Prometeia survey that were presented here at the Farnesina a few months ago, highlighting how, in 2016, the supporting action of the diplomatic and consular network in the award of tenders and the adjudication of contracts to Italian companies abroad, at home in Italy, generated 21.4 billion euros in value added, accounting for 1.4% of GDP and 307,000 jobs,” affirmed Minister Alfano.
Being aware that much can still be done to improve Italy’s placing on the international competition market spurred us to develop a tangible operational instrument capable of filling the vacuum of information on the mechanisms and on the application rules and procedures, factors that still discourage companies, especially SMEs, from participating in international tenders.”
Acquiring skills and testing the opportunities generated by large international events – such as Expo Dubai 2020 and the World Cup 2022 in Qatar – and by the procurement procedures of major international organisations (World Bank, United Nations, etc.) are the pillars of the “In Gara con Noi – Tender Lab” programme. After finishing the training, the companies taking part in this programme will be able to come into direct contact with the experts of the sector and with the people in charge of the contracting authorities. The whole process is structured into training and briefing modules to be held in several Italian cities between February and May 2018.
