The project aims to respond to the COVID crisis and the recent increase in demand for e-commerce due to the lockdowns in most MENA countries and the social distancing requirements that should last longer than the lockdowns. Retail businesses are struggling to find a way to reach customers and retain sales during this crisis.
The project will aim to support this challenge by offering women-led SMEs in MENA an opportunity to learn, in English, French and Arabic, about the fundamentals of doing business via e-commerce, managing logistics and utilizing digital marketing channels. These e-learnings will be delivered through a short series of webinars and facilitated, interactive online deep dive clinics.
<p>Trade and exports are an important pathway for women to improve firm performance. E-commerce has opened up a new, more efficient way to connect producers and merchants to customers around the country and world, and has shown promise in helping small businesses who are challenged with reaching regional and international markets</p><p>The overall purpose of the project is to increase exports of women-led SMEs from Lebanon through Virtual Market Places as a new effective channel to expand export markets and benefit from new business opportunities. The ultimate objective is to create new jobs, particularly for women, and to ensure more inclusive and sustainable social and economic development. </p><p>The project will train and create a core group of 20 e-commerce advisors (majority women) that will provide coaching and advisory services to 125 women-led SMEs so that they use the VMPs as an effective way to promote and sell their products and services.</p>
<p>The project aims at creating jobs and generating stable income in the craft sector for women and youth artisans, thus contributing to social stabilization and economic development of the region. A market driven approach will be used in order to enable Lebanese craft products gain a better share of the mid-range to high-end home furnishing, home décor, and handicrafts markets. Specialized skills and competencies of Syrian and Lebanese craftsmen coming from different regions will be used to reach out to a maximum number of young women and men, including in remote areas of the country.</p>
<p>Lebanon - Export Sector Competitiveness Project aims to contribute to increase diversification of Lebanon’s economy reducing its vulnerability to commodity market shocks, by benefiting from trading opportunities and improved competitiveness in priority sectors. It will reach this objective through increasing competitiveness and export readiness of companies in the two important sectors - IT and nuts` processing as well as building capacities of national TSIs. At the end of the intervention, it is expected that at least 20 companies will commence or expand their international sales, especially tapping into business opportunitites in the booming regional markets.</p>
ITC’s work in the Middle East and North Africa regions includes encouraging the exports of textiles and clothing to promote employment and income generation throughout the value chain. This includes focusing on institutional infrastructure and policy as well as product diversification, digitalization and e-commerce, social and environmental sustainability and gender inclusivity.
