Stories

Equipping Palestinian SMEs with knowledge of global quality requirements

8 April 2016
ITC News
Through an ITC and PTB-led training, Palestinian trade and investment support institutions focus on strengthening their export-related services for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Compliance with market access requirements and quality standards is a major hurdle for Palestinian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) looking to export – a challenge being met through training led by the International Trade Centre (ITC) and partners.

By strengthening the export quality-related services offered to SMEs by trade and investment support institutions in the State of Palestine, businesses can learn to improve the quality of their products and meet market access requirements.

Fifteen service providers from the private and public sectors participated in a training seminar on 15-16 March in Ramallah on ‘Improving market access through standards and conformity assessment’, organized by the Ministry of National Economy and the Palestine Trade Center (PALTRADE) in cooperation with ITC and the National Metrology Institute of Germany, PTB. The seminar was based on the joint ITC-PTB publication Export Quality Management: A Guide for Small and Medium-Sized Exporters.

On 17 March, the Minister of National Economy, H.E. Ms. Abeer Odeh, launched a publication – produced by ITC, PTB and the Ministry of National Economy – called Managing Quality in the State of Palestine: A Directory of Services for SMEs, saying it is very important for Palestinian SMEs to have access to ‘a reliable source of information’ for SMEs to achieve a ‘clearly defined level of quality’ for their products, and that it will support SMEs in complying with market access requirements. This publication gives Palestinian SMEs an overview of the national quality infrastructure and key service providers.

Ms. Manal Farhan, Director General of Industry and Natural Resources at the Ministry of National Economy, and coordinator of this initiative, presented the publication in the context of the Palestinian National Quality Policy.
 
PALTRADE Executive Director Ms. Hanan Taha highlighted that the guide on export quality management is in line with the National Export Strategy, specifically the quality management strategy, which had been prepared in partnership with all relevant institutions from the public and private sectors.