How the Jordan Chamber of Industry used Go Exporting to help stimulate export growth.
The war in Syria has led to an influx of refugees into Jordan. In addition, instability in Iraq and Yemen, has decimated traditional exporting markets for Jordanian companies. This has led to high unemployment levels and economic difficulties in the local economy.
Jordan Chamber of Industry (JCI) recognised that a key way to help stimulate growth and thereby improve employment levels, would be to promote increased export activity amongst local manufacturers to non-traditional markets, so outside the Arab region. Europe became a particular focus.
JCI knew that to achieve growth in Europe, Jordanian companies needed support to reach a level of ‘Export Readiness’ plus in the definition and implementation of their international strategy. It was agreed that such expertise would be best sourced from a specialist European-based consultancy.
Consequently, with the support of The International Labour Organisation (ILO), JCI instigated a programme to provide the necessary value-added technical assistance in company export readiness audits, export strategy, export coaching and market entry support.
Go Exporting is a specialist in these areas and was delighted to be chosen to provide the required support.
The Jordan Chamber of Industry (JCI) is an umbrella organization for all local Chambers of Industry in Jordan. It works as a strong and influential representative of the industrial sector in the country to promote sustainable economic growth. This can only be achieved by creating new job opportunities, in large part by enhancing exports to traditional and non-traditional markets.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social justice and promote decent work by setting international labour standards and promoting employment. It was the first specialised agency of the UN.
Hence, JCI and ILO combined with the Center for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries (CBI) to agree to a strategic cooperation for the effective and sustainable implementation of a joint project titled ‘Decent Jobs for Jordanians and Syrian Refugees in the Manufacturing Sector’.
A collaboration that encompassed value-added technical assistance to JCI in the areas of export readiness, export coaching, strategic and market entry support for enterprises to be more competitive in the European Markets.
Defined the areas of improvement for each company with clear action plans & timescales for completion
Provided JCI with an Export Readiness Assessment Scoring for each company
Researched the European market potential for the products of each company
Prepared an outline Export Strategic Plan for each company including key potential partners
Provided 2 Days Training to local Experts in delivering Export Readiness Audits, Assessment & Action Plans
Go Exporting carried out a two full days theoretical and applied workshop, entitled ‘Export Audit Process’ for 25 local experts. The time and energy Go Exporting has put in made the the workshop a great success. Participants have been equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to enhance their capabilities to conduct export audit services for industrial companies.
The workshop introduced export audits services concepts, audit questionnaire skills, points of contact, auditing report writing skills, and it also included conducting a hands-on export audit.
Go Exporting was approached by the ILO to see if we could offer technical Export Readiness Audits to companies in Jordan. ILO had come to know Go Exporting and our capabilities through downloading from our website the Expert Export Guide, ‘7 Steps to Export Success’ plus receiving the subsequent detailed email series.
Helping companies prepare for export and identifying the areas for improvement is a key element of the work of Go Exporting and part of the 7-Steps program. We were therefore pleased to confirm our interest in the project and were introduced to JCI as a potential partner by the ILO.
JCI subsequently issued a tender in late August 2019, with responses due by September 4th. All the audits and training in Jordan had to be completed by the end of October 2019, so the timescales were very short.
The scope of the work involved was as follows:
Go Exporting submitted our proposal and was delighted to be selected as the partner consultant for this exciting project. We put together an expert team of consultants, including CEO Mike Wilson, and carried out the first visits by 12th October, completing by the end of the month as per the schedule. The final reports were delivered on time by 12th December 2019.
Go Exporting has developed its own bespoke process for carrying out Export Readiness Audits to ensure we cover all aspects of a business which could be affected by or be important to a strategy for export growth. In reality, that means every department of the business.
The starting point is the company visit which generally lasts for a whole day and follows a particular sequence. We have designed our own questionnaire to guide our consultants through the audit in order to ensure we gather all the required information.
Ideally the information should be gathered from the Heads of Department, not just the CEO, in order to assess if perspectives are the same across the company.
During the audit visit we will have gathered a lot of information on the company plus we will have our perceptions of the overall business. All this then needs to be analysed and collated as follows:
We now have a good understanding of the business; where it is now, where it needs to be and where it would like to be. We use this information to analyse in more detail the key market opportunities and rank them according to their priority.
Next, we look at each market and research likely customers, routes-to-market.
Finally, we put this together in an export strategy with timescales and milestones.
Finally, we round everything up together and compile a detailed report showing:
The final document is designed to be a template and guidebook towards export success for the companies involved.
Separately, we used our unique assessment system to provide JCI with a comparative scoring for each company showing their readiness for export. This allows companies from different industries to be assessed and compared, giving a relative reflection of their export capabilities.
The ultimate objective of this exercise for JCI, the ILO and CBI was to promote employment in Jordan through stimulating economic growth by introducing the local companies to the tools they require to successfully export to non-traditional markets, such as Europe.
We achieved this through the recommendations and action plans included in the final reports to the companies; all based on the in-depth Export Readiness Audit process, subsequent market research, plus our experience and expertise in helping companies worldwide to expand into international markets.
From the testimonials received from JCI it can be seen that the reports have been well received and have significantly assisted both the companies and JCI towards their goals.
We continue to offer support in their export drive.
The secondary objective of the project was knowledge transfer. We were commissioned to provide 2 days training to local academic experts on the whole Export Readiness Audit process and compilation of the subsequent reports.
We also mentored 25 local experts who accompanied our consultants during the audit visits.
Those that completed the training received a Certificate plus samples of all the relevant Questionnaires, Assessment Techniques and Worksheets. They are now well-placed to be able to carry out the Export Readiness Audit Process and in the techniques we use to assess the information gathered.
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