Awareness rising of local business communities

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Awareness risingof local business communities
PPP
8TH, CEI SUMMIT ECONOMIC FORUMBRATISLAVA, SLOVAK
REPUBLIC / NOVEMBER 23RD - 24TH, 2005
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INFORMEST AS A CASE STUDYFOR SMEs SUPPORT 1

• ORIGINS
• Italian Parliament
• Act of Law January 9th, 1991 n.19 - Art.2,
  Paragraph 9
• Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia
• Regional Act of Law August 22nd, 1991 n.34 - Art.
  2
• (with associates Veneto and Trentino AA Regions,
  ICE,
• Italian Union of Chambers of Commerce)
• European Commission
• Communication C 35/92 - Item 2
• (OJEC C78/94 of March 15th, 1994)

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INFORMEST AS A CASE STUDYFOR SMEs SUPPORT 2

• GENERAL OBJECTIVES
• To make more of North Eastern Italian Regions
• historical competitive advantage
• in the relationship with Danubian, Balkan other
  Eastern Countries
• To establish a specialized agency for real non
  financial services
• deeply connected to the territory where SMEs are
  working
• To network experience and knowledge
• on emerging market economies in Transition
  Countries
• (Chambers system, University, RTD centres, etc.)

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INFORMEST AS A CASE STUDYFOR SMEs SUPPORT 3

• SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
• To lead the entrepreneurial system to match
  transition economies
• To promote new strategies in the management of
  companies
• To invest public resources for economic
  encouragement
• To spread a wider training impact on
  international issues
• To support marketing innovation investments
  identification
• To advice on companies organization for their
  transnational operations

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INFORMEST AS A CASE STUDYFOR SMEs SUPPORT 4

• STRATEGY
• Three guidelines
• gt needs and interests analysis within 25.000
  companies
• gt early investment on the internet and ICT
  applications
• gt consistency with EU programmes
• for TA to Transition Countries
• Three assumptions
• gt cooperative understanding of the appointed
  mission
• gt territorial approach to economic promotion
• gt networking of foreign partners as service
  providers
• specialized in the bilateral relations with
  Italy

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INFORMEST AS A CASE STUDYFOR SMEs SUPPORT 5

• ORGANISATION
• Four operational departments
• Assistance Consultancy (200 companies yearly
  contracted)
• Information Innovation (14.000 newsletter
  subscribers
• 26 Country Business Guides)
• Development Projects (HRD, capacity building -
• turn-over over 2,5 Meuro)
• EuroInfo Centre IT 388 Friuli Venezia Giulia
• (EICC Kosovo establishment)

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THE TERRITORYAS THE CORNERSTONEOF TRANSNATIONAL
ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

• Along the years Informest proved
• effectiveness and flexibility,
• innovative project generation, management
  administration skills,
• growing partnership capacity within its priority
  area and nation wide,
• becoming more and more
• an Agency for the development of
  internationalisation of the territory.
• Being conscious of the role of territory as the
  paradigm for SMEs development, this approach
  multiplies the impact of Informest operations for
  the benefit of the entrepreneurial system,
  according with the recent guidelines of the
  Italian Government.

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ATTRACTIVITY THE REASON TO GO THERE 1

• INFORMEST BASIC ASSUMPTIONS
• Internationalization versus delocalization
• overcoming the fear for global competition
• The inter-companies relationship of Italian SMEs
• extends its productive organization
• on transnational basis by entrepreneurial grapes
• SMEs ask for institutional support in the
  operations abroad

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ATTRACTIVITY THE REASON TO GO THERE 2

• THE STRUCTURAL FACTORS
• Direct assessment of attractiveness and
  competitiveness
• implies ex-ante evaluation of
• gt logistical settlement accessibility
• gt professional education of workforce managers
• gt rule of law and transparency
• gt balance of risk rate and costs competitiveness
• gt local GDP growing rate
• gt other competitive advantages environment,
  RTD,
• training and university, special public
  facilities, etc.

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ATTRACTIVITY THE REASON TO GO THERE 3

• HOW TO OVERCOME LOCAL WEAKNESS?
• To establish a friendly local environment for the
  incoming SMEs
• To guarantee equal service level between and
  abroad
• To gain pair treatment to big investors for the
  participating SMEs
• To contract credit lines conditions for moving
  SMEs
• To contract protected proceedings for SMEs
  settlement
• To design training programmes together, Italian
  language included
• To establish a one-stop-shop for contacts with
  the local PA
• To select a local network of certified
  professionals
• To support the business demension with cultural
  and social projects

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ATTRACTIVITY THE REASON TO GO THERE 4

• INFORMEST EXPERIENCE
• FOR SMEs EMERGING CLUSTERS PROMOTION
• VICLI project in Hungary Romania Bulgaria
  (1999 2001)
• EDEF project in the Russian Federation
• (Kaluga, Tambov, Dubna, Vladivostok) (2003
  2004)
• OPEN MARKETS project assess internationalization
  potential
• of SMEs in the lagging behind areas of Friuli
  Venezia Giulia
• Informest new small projects ( 25.000 to
  35.000)
• aim to the assessment of dynamic manufacturing
  SMEs (about 30)
• for local awareness rising and matching of
  transnational partners at local productive
  systems tier.

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ATTRACTIVITY THE REASON TO GO THERE 5

• LEARNED LESSONS
• FOR INFORMEST NEW PROJECTS
• Informest topics about local SME needs
• gt encouragement of enterprise creation
• gtpromotion of inter-companies relationship
  confidence
• gt planning of spatial facilities for clustering
  SMEs
• gt establishment of business parks
• providing premises, infrastructures
  services
• gt capacity building for entrepreneurial
  associations
• gt trans-national networking for technology
  transfer
• gt fund rising support with public private
  schemes
• gt access to EU market for dynamic enterprises

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NEW INFORMEST SERVICESFOR COMPANIES FUNDING 1

• THE VENTURE CAPITAL FUNDS (VCF)
• Since the year 2000
• the Ministry for Productive Activity set up VCF
• for additional support to Italian companies
• in selected priority regions of the world
• (Balkans, Mediterranean,Russia Ukraine, China)
• No limitation is foreseen by company dimension.
• The Funds allow for an overall shareholding
• (SIMEST and/or Finest VCF) up to a maximum of
  49
• of the foreign companys registered capital.

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NEW INFORMEST SERVICESFOR COMPANIES FUNDING 2

• MAIN FEATURES OF VCF
• Overall shareholding (VCF SIMEST)
• not exceed the total shareholding of the Italian
  company
• VCF minor then double of SIMEST/Finest
  shareholding
• Maximum VCF shareholding for the Balkans Fund
• is 516,456
• No guarantee are required
• for re-purchasing by the Italian company

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NEW INFORMEST SERVICESFOR COMPANIES FUNDING 3

• TIPS FROM THE INFORMEST EXPERIENCE
• Informest does not provide financial support but
  assistance
• for companies applications to SIMEST/Finest
  shareholding and financing,
• VCF included.
• Basic Law n. 100/90 shareholding pays interest
  rate of 1,6 with guarantees.
• VCF does not require guarantees but real interest
  rate is 3
• Actual business plans of Informest client
  companies are usually balanced
• around 30 of SIMEST/Finest VCF shareholding.
• Financing of equity capital acquired in the
  foreign company is eligible
• for SIMEST support
• up to 90 of the 51 of the investee foreign
  companys total capital

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NEW INFORMEST SERVICESFOR COMPANIES FUNDING 4

• ACTUAL IMPLEMENTATION OF VCF
• 2004 consolidated shareholding of SIMEST
• in Western Balkans companies (2005)
• Albania 6 ( 1)
• Croatia 9 ( 3)
• Macedonia 1
• SCG 1 ( 2)

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ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION TO BALKANS ASSOCIATION
PROCESS

• Impact of Law n.84/01 only (until June 2005)
• 126 initiatives have been funded in the area,
• totalling more then 52 Meuro of expenditures.
• According to statistics SCG is the 1st
  beneficiary country with 26,39
• Economic development is worth as the first sector
  
• with 45,14 of the funded initiatives.
• Capacity building ranks second with 19,28
• A wave of new initiatives is under evaluation in
  this fall 2005.

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• Thank you for your attention !
• Ugo Poli
• Informest Vice-President
• uffpres_at_informest.it
• www.informest.it