Outstanding national efforts to boost export performance
earned global awards at the 8th Trade Promotion Organization (TPO)
Network World Conference and Awards, taking place in Mexico City, 14-15 October
2010. The biennial event brought together more than 150 participants from 50
countries to address the theme, ‘Building Export Success – Enhancing TPO Impact
in a Changing Global Environment’.
The TPO Network Awards recognize excellence in trade support services
and celebrate TPOs that demonstrate outstanding performance in the use of
innovative and efficient processes and systems in their export development
initiatives. The winners of the TPO Network Awards
for 2010 are:
Mauritius:
Best Trade
Promotion Organization from a Small Island Developing State (Enterprise
Mauritius)
Brazil:
Best Trade
Promotion Organization from a Developing Country (
Brazilian
Trade & Investment Promotion Agency - ApexBrasil)
The United Kingdom
: Best Trade
Promotion Organization from a Developed Country (
UK
Trade & Investment - UKTI)
Runners-up
include:
-
Armenia
– from a developing
country (Armenian Development Agency - ADA)
-
Hungary
– from a developed country
(Hungarian Investment and Trade Promotion Agency - ITD Hungary)
Special
mention:
-
Malaysia
– from a developing
country (Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation - MATRADE)
-
Australia
– from a developed country
(Australian Trade Commission – Austrade)
TPOs
contribute to job creation and export income for their countries by offering
targeted services to enterprises that enable them to extend their reach
globally and boost exports. The global economicrecession
has increased the pressure on TPOs to demonstrate the value for money they
deliver by recording and reporting the impact of their services.
‘These
Awards recognize those TPOs that understand where the opportunities are and
think about innovative ways to motivate companies to go after export markets,’
said International Trade Centre (ITC) Executive Director Patricia Francis. ‘Success
today also depends on understanding the nuances of supply chains and how you
can fit into a global supply chain. Business is no longer focused solely on
end-to-end production – it’s about being part of a whole. Globalization is
creating more opportunities to do this.’
Added
Ms. Francis: ‘These winners are tackling the growing challenges of today’s
increasingly competitive marketplace and the effects of the global economic
recession. They are delivering real value to their customers.’
As a Small
Island Developing State, Mauritius took an integrated approach to its clients,
addressing both their needs and the needs of the market. ‘The proximity of
markets is a problem, so we have to leverage our every strength. We focused on
SMEs to help them maximize their internal capacities,’ said Prakash Beeharry,
CEO
Enterprise
Mauritius
.
‘As with most Small
Island Developing States, we derive beauty and strength from our smallness. At
the same time, it’s important to maintain an image of quality.’
For
Brazil, success lies in listening to and learning from clients and delivering
tailored services to support their needs. ‘The award means a lot. There is
pressure for continuous achievement, which is also a responsibility,’ said
Mauricio Borges, Director of ApexBrasil. ‘For us, success depends on a
continuous learning process, based on listening, being part of the process and
understanding what we have to improve in our service delivery.’
UK Trade
& Investment Deputy Chief Executive Susan Haird said that her organization
undertook case studies and focused on projects that they were proud of and were
measurable. ‘We worked with selected companies from two to 10 years, giving
them in-depth assistance, including looking at new export markets. We wanted to
succeed and now it’s been proved. We certainly learned a lot about best
practice from other [TPOs].’
Past
award winners have used the recognition to focus attention on the value of TPO
services, to assist national governments in achieving their economic goals and
to showcase the value of developing and funding export promotion programmes.
The
TPO Network Awards are sponsored by the International Trade Centre, the joint
agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development, devoted to supporting small and medium-sized enterprises
in developing countries to become more competitive in global markets. In this
way, ITC strives to speed up sustainable economic development and contribute to
the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
The
awards were presented on 14 October at the 2010 TPO Network World Conference
and Awards, and hosted by ProMéxico, the national trade promotion body of
Mexico, in conjunction with ITC. Participants at the event came from TPOs,
governmental and private business support organizations, related government
ministries, regional trade promotion organizations, and international and
national development agencies interested in trade capacity development. They
explored how best to address urgent challenges during plenary sessions, panel
debates and workshops. Exchanging experiences, knowledge and best practices,
participants focused on practical solutions to stimulate export-led economic
growth.
For more about
the event, the winners and their accomplishments, see www.tponetwork.net
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