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Addressed to: Back
Professionals of service and industrial companies, engineering and
architectural firms, legal and consulting firms (specialized in economic or
social development, agriculture, environment, HRM, finance etc.)
NGOs, development agencies, public administration institutions, technology
and business development centers. Generally, this course is useful all
people related with international trade and development, or those who are
interested in the business possibilities of international tenders and grants
financed by the international development institutions. This Course is
directed to individuals looking to strengthen their skills in the
preparation and management of all types of international development
projects and the related supplies of goods or works: whether consulting,
legal, technical assistance, institutional building, financial support
schemes, procurement of equipment, construction or industrial work, etc.,
especially those interested in applying international Project management
techniques to these types of projects.
The following people are especially interested in the course:
- Project managers and team members of development projects.
- Program directors and international project co-ordinators.
- Export managers and international development managers of firms who want
to win projects or grants in developing or emerging countries.
Freelance experts and professional firms who want to start exporting with
this low-risk avenue of public funding
Industrial and Service Companies.
Industrial and service firms from many sectors could identify new business
opportunities in the public tenders and grants funded by the international
development institutions. For instance,
the UN system includes a large group of agencies, programmes and funds, plus
several HQs and a General
Secretariat,
which require all kinds of supplies and services,
representing a market of over 9,000 million US Dollars per year of goods and
services.
Moreover, these business
opportunities have an important strategic value for companies; they
represent a low-risk platform to introduce different supplies and services
in other countries. These opportunities could enable suppliers to position
themselves as leaders in markets with important growth rates and potential.
It also provides the firms which work for these projects funded by the
international institutions a prestigious reference and increases their level
of confidence in those new markets. For example:
A
company distributing hospital and medical supplies and engineering from an
industrialised country was able win a large project for rehabilitating a
hospital in Dakar (Senegal).
A company in an emerging
country manufacturing traffic lighting equipment participated in an
emergency and reconstruction project funded in Indonesia funded by the
Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Professional services firms
Professional services firms, especially those which offer a high
added-value in their services (engineering companies, consulting companies,
specialist construction services, etc.) have a good possibility of
participating in technical assistance, services and work
contracts financed
by these institutions. For instance:
- A consulting company from a industrialised country won a tender financed
by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) aimed at the reconstruction
and supervision of a technology park in Managua (Nicaragua) to promote
innovation and technology throughout this central American country.
- An engineering company from an emerging country joined an international
consortium to tender for a project financed by the African Development Bank
to construct an energy plant in Kano (Nigeria).
- An engineering company from a European country won a EU-funded tender to
the improve the water, sanitation and agricultural sectors in Honduras.
Managers of Business Associations, Chambers of Commerce or other bodies.
Managers and staff of business and trade associations, Chambers of commerce,
and other intermediate bodies can bid for technical assistance projects
financed by these institutions; thereby transferring technology and
knowledge, promoting joint activities and programmes, and thus encouraging
their members and associates to internationalise their businesses. Examples
of their involvement are:
- A Chamber of commerce from an
industrialised country participated in a tender process to strengthen the
business sector in Romania.
- An exporter association from an emerging country organized a consortium
for bidding on project within the energy sector, which later won several
tenders in the region.
Managers or Employees of Public Administration bodies
Many public institutions (development agencies and export promotion agencies
from regions, etc.) search regularly for project funding. Many of them are
encouraged to participate in technical assistance projects, allowing their
public employees and experts to transfer their know-how,
promoting the
development of international markets, training their counterparts in other
countries or managing “twinning programmes” which exchange know-how and best
practices.
Examples are:
- An export promotion agency participated in a project financed by the IDB
aimed at launching a similar export promotion agency in Peru, transferring
with this project their "know-how" to the new institution.
- A regional development agency sent one of their best experts abroad for
several months to participate in the diagnosis and analysis of the
technological gaps and the impact evaluation of the technology centres of
the country, drafting a strategic document which became the basis of
technological development in the country.
NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations)
The management of most
Non-Governmental Agencies (NGOs)
is increasingly made up of full-time professional managers, which need to
master the techniques of fund-raising, bidding, project management and
evaluation of the international projects and funds they are awarded. As a
matter of fact, it is irrelevant if the NGO get funding and projects at
local or international level, because the techniques and the procedures are
essentially the same. Systematic good quality presentation of project
proposals and professional management and evaluation techniques will help
them with the funding and the bidding for projects at all levels.
Universities, Business Schools and other Educational institutions
The universities and the business schools also participate and manage
international programmes, such as:
- A business school participates in a project aimed at reorganising the
retailing sector in Ecuador, so as to order to improve the competitiveness
of retailers, increasing their potential sustainability and growth.
- A university participates in a technical assistance project for setting up
various training centres for the unemployed arising from the closure of
mines in Chile.
Recent University or Post-graduate students
With this Course, recent university graduates and post-graduate students
have an excellent short and practical course to add to their CV, and thereby
become specialised in international project tenders, bidding, management and
evaluation of projects, a growing field, where there are still relatively
few experts in the market, which are always in high demand as project
coordinators and proposal support.
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