• Organized by ProCórdoba Agency and ACCIÓ Catalunya.
• Among participants were trade promotion organizations, agencies and networks from Latin America and Europe.
• Presentations centered around the adaptation of and innovation in services for SMEs in the context of the pandemic.
Organized by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Mining's ProCórdoba Agency and ACCIÓ Catalunya, the webinar "Challenges of Regional/Subnational Trade Promotion Organizations in the face of COVID 19" was held on November 30, 2020.
ProCórdoba's President Jorge Marcotegui and ACCIÓ's Internationalization Director Cristina Serradell were in charge of opening the event.
The webinar welcomed European and Latin American trade promotion organizations and network representatives with whom ProCórdoba has a strong relation.
In his welcome speech, Marcotegui said, "Our organizations in particular, being regional organizations, are the first refuge companies go to when they need help. During this period, we have worked hard to be close to companies, support them, and give them the technical assistance necessary to sustain their exports, find new opportunities for companies who lost markets, or identify new clients."
In line with this, ProCórdoba's General Manager Roberto Rossotto summarized the actions undertaken by the Agency this year and explained, "We took on the challenge of continuing to support companies in this context, developing virtual tools, such as business rounds with our own methodology or customized technical assistance without losing sight of the special efforts made by the hardest-hit sectors. We also organized outreach activities with foreign markets through embassies, and identified and capitalized on a growth in public procurement demands associated with Covid-19 support policies."
The keynote speakers were representatives from the International Trade Center, the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations, who gave the presentation "Supporting small businesses through the COVID-19 crisis and towards the future: a 15 Point Action Plan", wherein they analyzed the impact of the pandemic and the role of trade promotion organizations.
The presentation was given by Barbara Ramos, Chief of Research and Export Strategies, who focused on the tools subnational organizations offer to businesses and their importance in contexts of challenging uncertainties, such as the current one: "TPOs are a vital source of assistance for SMEs both during and after the pandemic. Some of the greatest supportive tools are access to official and reliable information, technical assistance, network coordination and facilitation, which - when addressed both from a local and a global standpoint - lead to resilient, greater scale, more efficient scenarios.
For her part, Anne Chappaz, Chief Institutional Strengthening, stressed that "Our organizations have a crucial role in supporting business recovery, but also in delivering sustainable and inclusive growth."
The different speakers highlighted the role of the territorial dimension and explained that regional and provincial organizations are the means through which companies channel their needs, and the ones who better know their productive sectors.
This distinctive feature of TPOs allows them to offer companies tools customized to the context, which thus have a more direct impact and lead to faster, comprehensive solutions. Another important point that was underscored was the importance of diminishing the vulnerability of companies in crises through the diversification of markets and products.
The moderator role at the event was fulfilled by ProCórdoba's Cooperation and International Relations Manager Viviana Arias and ACCIÓ's International Network Manager Roger Suarez.
Participant organizations:
