- Advice
- Matching/Networking
- Support of companies' growth
- Support of internationalisation
- Support of SMEs
Национален експортен портал
National Export Portal
Coverage/Eligibility
All SMEs.
Main characteristics
The National Export Portal promotes the internationalisation of Bulgarian SMEs and offers the following services:
- Analyses of export activities and development of integration strategies for 18 priority economic sectors, such as C10 - Manufacture of food products, C11 - Manufacture of beverages, C21 - Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations, C25 - Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment, and others.
- Research of potential opportunities for Bulgarian commodities in 32 international markets;
- Information maintenance to remain up to date on individual strategies and opportunities;
- Provision of relevant information; and
- Provision of business advice by experts within the Executive Agency for Promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises.
Funding
- National funds
- European funds
- European Funds (ERDF)
Involved actors
National government
It is a national initiative - supported, managed and organised by the Executive Agency for Promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises at the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy.
Effectiveness
Data, provided by the Bulgarian SMEs Promotion Agency (BSMEPA), show that the portal was visited 176,915 times, with 111,172 unique IP addresses, between 2011 and 2014. Moreover, 808,260 pages were visited and the site has more than 6,000 registered users. The most regularly visited sections are those where the companies could search for international partners (9.7%) and the company catalogue (6.2%).
According to the BSMEPA annual report 2014, in 2014, 2,284 users made a new registration, 346,388 pages were visited, and 233 companies updated their registered profiles. The expert and consultant services that the portal provided in 2014 include 70 cases of market analyses and research, 22 expert consultations on request by registered companies, 39 requests by foreign companies searching for Bulgarian partners, as well as many publications and informative materials about various events for SMEs.
There is no available information about the usage of the portal after 2015.
Strengths
According to the Bulgarian SME Promotion Agency, the portal assists the entry and successful positioning of Bulgarian enterprises in foreign markets by trying to improve their competitiveness. In 2010, 95% of Bulgarian companies had a low degree of internationalisation, while the rest 5% could reach a medium level.
The portal provides specialised information and consultation to SMEs for export promotion. It acts as an intermediary in establishing contacts between Bulgarian SMEs and foreign companies, as well as in supply of goods and services. The portal maintains a database of corporate records of Bulgarian export oriented businesses.
Weaknesses
In the recent years (2017-2020) information on the platform is being updated only occasionally and data may not be up-to-date.
Experts working in the Innogrow project, which promotes entrepreneurship among young people, co-financed by the Interreg Europe programme, concluded that the design of the National Export Portal is outdated and can be further adapted to the needs of users and SMEs. The proposal is to analyse the usability of the portal and upgrade it to include export support for SMEs in rural areas and provision of special certification for exporting companies.
Pavyzdžiai
Šaltinis
- National Export Portal
- The Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency
- 2014 Activity Report of the Bulgarian SME Promotion Agency
- Promotion of Internationalisation of the Bulgarian Enterprises - presentation
- A Package of measures stimulates the introduction of innovations in SMEs
- Innogrow project
MEMBER OF THE NETWORK OF EU AGENCIES
Eurofound yra Europos Sąjungos agentūra
Eurofound welcomes feedback and updates on this regulation
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