The MED MSMEs Programme together with INSME held a successful, collaborative study tour titled, “Digital Support Services for Exporting SMEs” on June 20-21 in Rome, Italy focused on the one-stop shop export.gov.it, which has been recognized as a best practice in offering digital services to support SMEs’ internationalization. For that reason, 30+ Ministry officers and managers of business support organizations from Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, and Tunisia came to Rome for a study visit; the event was dedicated to the exchange of good practices and experience with regard to support services for exporting SMEs through digitalization.
The focus was on the valuable platform export.gov.it which acts as a single public portal with the goal of supporting SMEs. Italian leading internationalization actors Mariangela Siciliano and Simona Vultaggio from SACE, Pietro Infante from Unioncamere, Andrea Degl’Innocenti from ITA (Italian Trade Agency), Francesca Alicata from SIMEST, Valeria Centinaro from Promos Italia , and Riccardo Honorati Bianchi from CDP (Cassa Depositi e Prestiti) brilliantly presented the platform and lessons learned from this process. The portal is meant to make the lives of Italian exporting SMEs easier. The portal is updated continuously and is a prime example of inter-ministerial collaboration. Export.gov.it represents an immense milestone in terms of facilitating the internationalization of Italian SMEs. INSME collected information on export.gov.it and posted it on its Innovation Best Practices area online, consult the page here.
On the second day the EuroMed Trade Helpdesk facility was presented, which seeks to tackle the problem of limited knowledge and information on the subject of internalization and featured segments on FinTech and gender equality, with multiple participating countries showcasing their regional action plans to be more inclusive in the industry.
Source: INSME Secretariat
