Malta Enterprise is to return to India and China with trade delegations next year in a bid to follow up on leads established by successful business missions in the promising markets in 2009 and last May, executive chairman Alan Camilleri told The Times Business.
The government agency has also confirmed its participation in a number of trade events which proved to be among the most successful this year, he added.
Around €350,000 has been budgeted for Malta Enterprise’s internationalisation events in 2011 and the full calendar will be officially released shortly. The figure includes financial assistance to participating enterprises.
In India and China, Malta Enterprise will spearhead efforts to tap into new opportunities which the sprawling markets offered; both required sustained efforts and results, Mr Camilleri emphasised, will only be achieved over the longer term.
“All our internationalisation events aim to assist local enterprises, particulary SMEs, in their growth strategy by expanding their operations abroad,” Mr Camilleri said. “In doing so, however, we never lose sight of investment promotion and the events held during the business delegations’ visit serve to raise awareness and showcase Malta’s unique selling propositions.
“We do this in conjunction with major stakeholders, including Finance Malta, the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, GRTU, the Gozo Chamber and the respective country chambers and counterpart institutions. A core element of these delegations is the one-to-one ‘match-making’ meetings which Malta Enterprise sets up through its Enterprise Europe Network and others.”
Asked whether the internationalisation calendar for 2011 had been influenced by the Gateway to Export initiative and the franchising programme announced in the Budget, Mr Camilleri pointed out that the targeted markets were selected on the basis of a number of criteria, such as market research studies, feedback from the stakeholders, and continuous input from Malta Enterprise’s clients.
He explained the Gateway to Export and the franchising programmes were spin-offs from Malta Enterprise’s strategic plan for 2011 but were not related as the Gateway to Export was a focused and personalised programme. Given that the markets selected for Malta Enterprise’s events were among those with most potential for opportunities, even beneficiaries under the Gateway to Export and the franchising programmes stood to gain through their participation.
Meanwhile, Malta Enterprise’s team of regional leaders is shaping up: markets like Italy, China, Russia and Eastern Europe, Australia and New Zealand, France and the French-speaking territories including Canada are covered. A regional leader for the US is to be named soon.
The regional leaders complement Malta Enterprise’s existing offices in Germany, Libya and Dubai, where there are permanent representatives.
Major regions, such as the UK and Ireland, Spain and Latin America, as well as India, however, have still to be covered.
Regional leaders – market-based professionals who speak the language and know the territory well – were among the team players who gave their input as the calendar was being drafted. Various departments within the agency, including the newly established Economic and Market Research Unit, and the External Relations Unit, also contributed.
Mr Camilleri said the calendar considered the opportunities which existed in various markets where events were held in the past years. However, major highlights in the 2011 calendar included visits to Algeria and Israel in January and February, two markets where Malta Enterprise had never ventured before although they were not entirely new to Maltese businesses.
A trade mission to Libya next month has been confirmed and the visit to Israel has been twinned with the Palestinian territories.
Travel subsidies for participants in business delegations include up to 60 per cent reimbursement of the cost of an economy class air fare, and a per diem allowance as per EU rates, which varied according to the country visited.
Malta Enterprise aimed to improve the system next year by requiring all attendees to participate in a tracer study to follow up the impact of delegations in terms of their economic outputs. The agency will work to better screen and qualify participants to ensure they are focused and targeted in their export or internationalisation prospects.
This year, more than 160 businesses participated in eight overseas business delegations to Austria, South Africa, China, the Gulf States, Tunisia, Romania, Sicily, and the UK and Ireland.
Locally, Malta Enterprise hosted business delegations from Yiwu in China and the Shanghai Trade Promotion Agency, Japan, Montenegro, Switzerland, Poland, New Zealand, South Africa, Israel, and Palestine.
Mr Camilleri said the tangible outcome of the internationalisation events was rarely immediately visible.
“While there have been one-off cases where participants reached agreements during the event itself or in its immediate aftermath, in the majority of cases the participants have to follow up the leads established during the event to ensure that a positive outcome is reached in the medium to long term,” he explained.
“Malta Enterprise’s assistance is aimed at helping businesses make the first, important step and helping them identify what could be the right contact. Many participants have told us this was crucial for them in their efforts to expand and tap opportunities in foreign markets.
“This is precisely the reason behind a long-term tracer study so that we can determine better the outcomes and the outputs of these delegations, thereby being more grounded in our approach for the future.”