SMEs are very important for the European Union. They are a very strong part of the economy and they are supported in every way. As a result, through programmes like COSME, we notice more and more actions being taken every year.
One of the most promising calls for SMEs this year, under the COSME programme is “Supporting European SMEs to participate in public procurement outside the EU” Here are some details about the call:
Supporting SMEs
Improving SMEs’ access to public procurement is an important objective for the European Commission. Inside the Union, the SMEs’ weight in above-threshold procurement is still low when compared with their contribution to Gross Domestic Product (only 45% compared to 58%). The participation of SMEs in procurement across borders is even lower.
Public procurement offers major business opportunities to SMEs. In the Union, public procurement represents around EUR 2000 billion per year. When adding the opportunities outside the Union, the potential for growth is even higher. The World Trade Organisation Secretariat estimates the Government Procurement Agreement opportunities amount to US$ 1.7 trillion annually.
Adding to the European Economy
The participation of SMEs in public procurement is a win-win situation. It helps SMEs to grow and scale-up, it improves their reputation and helps them to obtain more business in the private sector. For public authorities, it increases the number of offers the public buyers get, ultimately increasing the chances to obtain the best value for money.
This action will be implemented through a call for proposals. The projects shall take into consideration several aspects: the identification of the SMEs capacities to operate in an international environment, the sector specificities, and the knowledge and expertise related to certain non-Union partner countries, the knowledge about procurement markets.
Therefore, this action will give flexibility to the organisations submitting the proposal to tailor their services to the needs of SMEs while achieving the objectives set in this action. The action could cover several measures such as awareness-raising about opportunities existing outside the Union (tenders alerts and guides on what is specific to the respective country on public procurement), training and advisory services to SMEs, business- to-procurers events, partner-finding support, consortia building, etc. In the implementation of this action, the selected consortia should look for synergies with other projects/initiatives developed under COSME or other Union Programmes.
Work with us
IED is interested in this call. We value SMEs and the role they play in the European Economy. We want to ultimately help SMEs to participate in public procurement outside the Union through co-financing actions of intermediate organisations supporting SMEs’ internationalisation and participation in public procurement. As a result, we should develop capacities to help them in this respect, offer more targeted and better support.
If you want to work with us on this project Contact Us today and let’s start working on a proposal together. We are always on the lookout for our next great partners and you could be them!
