SICOMEX
Published on 08 February 2019
Spain
Comunitat Valenciana
This is the good practice's implementation level. It can be national, regional or local.
About this good practice
The Valencia private sector is made-up of SMEs with limited resources, however, offering competitive products and services.
SICOMEX tackles the following barriers:
- Problems in identifying and contacting international markets
- Insufficient quantity of and/or untrained personnel
- Shortage of funds
- Difficulty in obtaining reliable foreign representation
ARVET, the Exporters of Manufactured Goods association, runs the programme. ARVET gathers over 200 manufacturers exporting some 600 million euros.
DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
Name: SICOMEX
Beneficiaries: exporters in selected sectors (Hardware and Bricolage, Bath Equipment, Industrial Cleaning and Hygiene and Industrial Machinery)
Budget: the participants pay an annual fee and a success fee.
Duration: 24 months
Markets: Cuba, Egypt, Romania, Ivory Coast, Colombia, Peru, Balkan countries, India.
Sicomex provides an easy answer to the SMEs needs. The existing consortia require a more complex procedure and legal base.
The operational costs are shared by the participating companies.
STEPS:
The first step for ARVET is to recruit an expert in a specific international market, who acts as commercial agent for a small group of companies.
The expert travels to Spain to analyse each of the companies (from three to eight SMEs), including products or services, experience, resources, distribution channels, etc.
The expert is responsible for the market entry, working closely with the export department.
SICOMEX tackles the following barriers:
- Problems in identifying and contacting international markets
- Insufficient quantity of and/or untrained personnel
- Shortage of funds
- Difficulty in obtaining reliable foreign representation
ARVET, the Exporters of Manufactured Goods association, runs the programme. ARVET gathers over 200 manufacturers exporting some 600 million euros.
DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
Name: SICOMEX
Beneficiaries: exporters in selected sectors (Hardware and Bricolage, Bath Equipment, Industrial Cleaning and Hygiene and Industrial Machinery)
Budget: the participants pay an annual fee and a success fee.
Duration: 24 months
Markets: Cuba, Egypt, Romania, Ivory Coast, Colombia, Peru, Balkan countries, India.
Sicomex provides an easy answer to the SMEs needs. The existing consortia require a more complex procedure and legal base.
The operational costs are shared by the participating companies.
STEPS:
The first step for ARVET is to recruit an expert in a specific international market, who acts as commercial agent for a small group of companies.
The expert travels to Spain to analyse each of the companies (from three to eight SMEs), including products or services, experience, resources, distribution channels, etc.
The expert is responsible for the market entry, working closely with the export department.
Expert opinion
This is a relevant example of a service that enables SMEs with limited resources to start their internationalization process by outsourcing the preparatory as well as market entry work to a specialist (agent) from the target market. The service lowers the cost of internationalization for SMEs.
The process of the service has some interesting features such as:
- Programme manager ARAVET recruits the specialist for SMEs
- SMEs pay an annual fee plus a success fee
- The specialist is responsible for the market entry. They oversee contacting all the importers in the country to offer the Spanish SMEs products and to keep track of clients.
The process of the service has some interesting features such as:
- Programme manager ARAVET recruits the specialist for SMEs
- SMEs pay an annual fee plus a success fee
- The specialist is responsible for the market entry. They oversee contacting all the importers in the country to offer the Spanish SMEs products and to keep track of clients.
Works at
Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform
Resources needed
Management staff (one person) and agents (usually local), with expertise in the sector / market. There are currently 12 agents abroad responsible for the Project management. All monitoring can be done on line so a Project website is needed.
Evidence of success
Arvet associates are boosting exports and SICOMEX demand is increasing. In this context, new destinations are currently added to the Sicomex international network.
SICOMEX lowers the costs of internationalization and it serves as a springboard to world markets, particularly to new destinations. When major export markets are reaching to almost saturation point, growing in non-traditional market diversification has become even more important.
SICOMEX lowers the costs of internationalization and it serves as a springboard to world markets, particularly to new destinations. When major export markets are reaching to almost saturation point, growing in non-traditional market diversification has become even more important.
Potential for learning or transfer
SICOMEX methodology and operating procedures are easy to follow and well stablished.
It is a scheme fully replicable in other regions or countries, since the programme has been running for many years successfully and it is applicable to different sectors.
This program has been particularly effective in small/difficult markets where the exporter prefers not to allocate a lot of human and financial resources.
It is a scheme fully replicable in other regions or countries, since the programme has been running for many years successfully and it is applicable to different sectors.
This program has been particularly effective in small/difficult markets where the exporter prefers not to allocate a lot of human and financial resources.
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.
Organisation
ARVET Exporters Federation
Spain
Comunitat Valenciana
Contact
Project Manager