27 Lug Temporary Export Manager: incentives to hiring are on their way

Internationalisation is certainly the best strategy to be pursued for all Italian small and medium sized companies to get out of the quagmire of this economic crisis.

The much acclaimed recovery, in fact, cannot start but by increasing one’s sales, which may come to pass also by increasing the appeal of made in Italy abroad.

The need to tame foreign demand for SMEs as well as for large companies is a widespread belief also among institutions. The last of the measures to promote the internationalisation of companies, is the approval of government incentives to foster this process. Specifically, the decree for Economic development of 15 May, which was published on 19 June on the Official Journal, entails allocating the so called “internationalisation vouchers”.

These are state incentives to promote the introduction of the Temporary Export Manager, an expert in foreign investment strategy and planning, calibrated on the “strength” of the individual company and its special features. The Export Manager or Export specialist plays an irreplaceable role within large companies that base their business on meticulous management of investments in foreign markets, also carefully choosing possible destinations. The introduction on a temporary basis of this professional in SMEs assures even the smallest firms are able to make consistent and well-planned investments abroad, exactly thanks to a specialist who is manning the region and target market.

The temporariness of the appointment and the state incentive clearly result in reduced costs and profitable introduction of this professional figure, which would otherwise be costly for micro, small and medium enterprises.

The vouchers

Of the two calls by MISE, the Ministry for Economic Development, the first one has been made operative and entails allocating 10 million Euro in total. Each voucher will be for 10 thousand Euro against a co-financing share of 3 thousand Euro, to be paid by the recipient firm. The second call involves another set of vouchers, similar to those of the first call, and additional funding of 8 thousand Euro for those who have already successfully obtained the first.

The recipients

Funding will be accessible to micro, small and medium enterprises, established as companies with share capital, as well as cooperatives, and business networks between SMEs: they must have achieved a minimum turnover of 500 thousand Euro in at least one of the fiscal periods of the last three-year period. However, start-ups registered in the suitable section of the business register are free from this constraint.

Furthermore, the provision has a 3% available financial reserve, aimed at assuring access to those SMEs that have obtained legality rating from the Antitrust Commission.

The TEM

Temporary Export Managers will carry out their activity in the company for a minimum term of six months and will come from specific companies supplying these services, to be entered in a list on the MISE website as of 1 September 2015. The SME will therefore contact these firms to have their own specialist. Supplying companies may include all companies with share capital, including cooperatives, provided they have certain requirements, providing evidence of the experience of these companies or their staff on internationalisation and export.

The procedure

To enter the first call the company concerned must apply as of the date of opening of the suitable office counter by the MISE. The procedure is exclusively computerised and the document must bear the digital signature of the company’s legal representative. The vouchers will be allocated following the chronological order of filing, and only one application will be filed by each company. Furthermore, the list of awarded companies will be published on the MISE website.

The incentives to improve the quality and quantity of Italian exports for SMEs are a tangible expression of the direction taken not only by Italian entrepreneurship, but by the Italian Government as well: the password is recovery, but above all growth. Nowadays, these cannot disregard expansion abroad and a consistent spread of Made in Italy outside the borders of a market by now saturated, as is the domestic or European one.