MITOS Tool 12 Migrant Market Place

MITOS Tool 12 Migrant Market Place Published by:

MITOS Tool 12 Migrant Market Place A market makes your ideas go round 1 Tool: A place for potential partners to get to know each other, also known as business wheel. Detailed and structured information will facilitate an exchange of ideas and first partnership agreements. 2 Objectives: This tool will enable your project to: Work with sponsors and partners in creating awareness for a migrant market place as a means for stimulating investments, innovations and development Enable selected migrants to participate in a platform where they can meet, exchange and engage in collaborative enterprise Create social and entrepreneurial interaction 3 Target group: The group includes: (a) selected and qualified migrants in host countries; (b) local SME entrepreneurs or investors in the CoO; (c) market place s partner group consisting of commercial banks, venture capitalists, MFIs, remittance handling offices, professional marketing associations, entrepreneurship promoting institutions, NGOs, etc.; and (d) sponsor group consisting of a regional or local economic development agency, federation of chamber of commerce and industries with your project as co-sponsor. 4 Problems and potentials of migrants addressed by this tool: Despite the advances in communications technology, physical distance still isolates migrants from recent developments and business opportunities in their respective towns, districts, or provinces they originate from. This means that as long as they are abroad, they cannot fully engage in economic (and social) developments even if they possess not only investable funds and technical expertise but ideas and knowledge about business opportunities. This tool will enable migrants to engage in the development of their CoO by contributing their (a) technical expertise (e.g. gained while in the CoD), (b) investments (e.g. funds, entrepreneurial and managerial competencies with local partners), and (c) business opportunities (e.g. for local joint ventures and partnerships). 5 Description: 5.1 The background: The Migrants Market Place will assemble the four i s in local economic development. information (or new techniques, processes, products, etc.) innovation (new business ideas and opportunities for the home countries) investments (from migrants and local investors) incentives (e.g., sponsors and partners will share in the cost of the event, travels, logistics and perhaps even innovation funds, see MITOS Tool 04: Migrant Innovation Treasury ) It provides real market ambiance with ideas on the one side and people looking for projects to fund on the other side. The idea is to create market-like structures and incentives where people with ideas act like sellers and migrants act like venture capitalists who try to minimize risk by spreading their 1

investments over broad portfolios. The matching of ideas with funds can contribute to development by fostering investment and innovation. The market place will allow participants to identify and fund innovative projects that generate positive commercial (or social) impact by helping local SME to grow their businesses, create employment and assist vulnerable groups. Eventually, it should become not just a meeting platform but a springboard for increased cooperation and real business partnerships between local SME and migrants. 5.2 The tool: To apply this tool, you have to: Prepare. After agreeing on MoUs, your project/ institution needs to develop commitment and sense of ownership of your sponsors and partner groups. They should meet several times to discuss and decide on: (a) the participants (who is capable and who is not); (b) duration, timing and date; (c) venue (e.g., consider accessibility and size); and (d) how (agenda, guests, related events, market place rules, etc.). Duration, timing and date must consider the migrants preferences (e.g., when their children are out of school, etc.) as well as local culture and events (e.g. Christmas for Christian migrants is a home sweet home event). Detailed plan. The plan should already select the venue. Cost and price decisions for the use of market place elements such as: booths, conference rooms, demonstration devices, media support and spots, entrance tickets, food stalls, rules on donation, prizes and awards, exhibits, video shows, promotion booths, entertainment stage, etc. can then be estimated. Details on need for events manager and documentation coordinator, campaign strategy, media and communications, judges, prizes, donations (if any), etc. can also be included. Finally, a detailed preparation-to-conclusion plan using Action-When-By-Whom-and-What-Cost matrix should be attached. Campaign for participants. Your project/institution needs internet-based promotion (e.g., via your internet site, an innovation fund, etc. included in this manual) to address and attract the right migrants. Simultaneously, you need ground promotion (e.g., via posters, brochures, presentations, and direct mails) to attract local SME and investors. To join, migrants and local participants must apply to the sponsors (See Annex 1 for a generic format). They will be qualified and classified as either: investors (can share ideas and funds), potential partners (seeking or can share funds), joint venture seekers (migrants looking for local partners). Successful participants can also be included in your project/ institution s web page. Selection. The applications shall be screened by judges appointed by the sponsors. The judges select them considering the categories, criteria and the migrant roles. If needed, the judges can request for additional information via e-mail, Skype or telecommunication. Local participants will undergo a similar application and selection process. Promotion. Your sponsors and partners should stir local interest for the event. Take advantage of your project/institution s ground and virtual network. Encourage your network to notify their friends about the market place. Put up posters in the streets, airport, bus and train stations, and major intersections. Arrange some press events, press releases, press conferences and keep the media reporting. Let people talk about it in radio, meetings and other relevant events. Manage the market. The market place will promote SME creation and expansion by bringing migrants and local entrepreneurs together. Investors should make small commitments quickly, with the goal of exploring new ideas, opportunities, products and services. Money will chase ideas (and vice versa). Ideas will chase right partners. Partners will chase expertise and products. Products will chase customers. Customers will buy products. Migrants 2

chase other migrants for partnership. Exhibitors collect orders or sell on-site. There will be info events, entertainment (closing evening), dialogues, conferences, on-the-spot training, product demo, brochure distribution, etc. The market place will be fun, profitable and memorable for the participants. Monitor. Broadcast. It is however important to keep a track of the exchanges between the migrants and the local exhibitors to monitor how much opportunities are transformed into concrete businesses (start-ups, expansion and new partnerships). These developments should be reported in real-time online or via the media as they happen (or not happen) as in real market places. An events reporter will periodically report happenings, news, interviews, as well as investments (or sales or SME) generated for the day. These should be broadcasted via YouTube. Judging and awards. Based on the market place rules and the criteria, the judges will determine winners for each category. Prizes can include cash grants, the innovation funds, free air tickets, advertising air time, business training courses, etc. Noncash prizes can be sourced through donations and sponsorships. Report. The final step is internal to the sponsors and your project. A detailed written post-market place report must be prepared by the documentation specialist. It should among others include: agenda; highlights; results in investments, sales, partnerships, technology transfer, etc.; lessons learned; resource materials generated; budgets and expenses; sponsors and partners; as well as evaluation statistics. Likewise, all the photos and videos taken on the event can be uploaded on your project s website. 6 Prerequisites: Stakeholder participation is a must, e.g. local government structures, enterprise support agencies both from the governmental and private sector, NGOs, CSOs, business schools, technical and vocational schools, etc. A professional events management company can cut the implementation time by half and allow the sponsors to focus on the number and quality of participants. Visible support by the government will add credence to the event. 7 Particularities and/or difficulties: None. 8 Costs: Costs will vary from country to country. Rough estimates are shown below: Items Cost (in US$) Preparations 1,200 Detailed planning 2,000 Campaigning for participants 2,000 Selection Promotion 2,000 Manage the market 5,000 Monitor and broadcast 1,200 Awarding 1,800 Reporting 500 Total 15,700 9 Dissemination: The Market Place Tool is not new in the development domain. The World Bank started promoting it and it eventually spread to other multilateral and bilateral donors to encourage innovation and market-based private sector development and other social concerns. It has proved to be effective in projects in sectors like health, energy, community development, infrastructure, climate change, private sector development and environment protection. 3

10 Links to other MITOS tools: MITOS Tool 01: Migrant Opportunities Website MITOS Tool 02: Kiva for Migrants MITOS Tool 04: Migrant Innovation Treasury MITOS Tool 09: Import and Export Service Training MITOS Tool 11: One Stop Shop Service for Migrants Prepared by: Dr. Eduardo Canela, CEFE International coordination@cefe.net www.cefe.net 4

Annex: The generic application for a market place Name: Host Country: Business Address: Home Address (if different from the above) Phone, Fax, e-mail, Skype URL Date of Birth: Dependents: Year Immigrated: Place of Birth: Main Relatives in CoO: Date of Most Recent Visit to the origin Country: Education: Name of the Institutions and Where I would like to participate in the market place as a: (Select one) Q1. What kind of technical expertise would you share with the participants of the Market Place (Please describe in not more than 350 characters only. You can attach photos, drawings or brochures). Q2. What types of partnerships are you considering with the participants of the Market Place (Please describe in not more than 350 characters only. You can attach pictures if you wish). Q3. What kind of new products (formula, recipe, ideas, opportunities, etc.) would you share with the participants of the Market Place (Please describe in not more than 350 characters only. You can attach photos, drawings or brochures). What services would you need from the market place? 8 Payments [Note: To reserve a booth, 50% deposit is required] High School: Vocational/Technical School: Bachelors: Masters: PhD: (a) provider of technical expertise (process and services): Go to Q1 (b) investor (funding and partnership) Go to Q2 (c) business opportunities (product ideas and other opportunities) Go to Q3 (a) Display booth (specify size) (b) conference room (specify time) (c) demo area (specify size) (d) media interview (specify frequency) (d) food stalls (e) video shows (f) promotion booth (g) entertainment stage (h) customs clearance (i) others, specify: Agreements: Signed: Date: 8 Note to the organizer: Please attach the price list for the services with this application. Include discounts, if applicable. 5

Published by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Sector Project Migration and Development Registered offices Bonn and Eschborn, Germany Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 40 Dag-Hammarskjöld-Weg 1 5 53113 Bonn/Germany 65760 Eschborn/Germany Phone: +49 228 44 60-0 Phone: +49 61 96 79-0 Fax: +49 228 44 60-1766 Fax: +49 61 96 79-1115 migration@giz.de www.giz.de/migrationdevelopment Authors CEFE International and the global network of CEFE trainers www.cefe.net Design andreas korn visuelle kommunikation, Bad Homburg Printed by Aksoy Print & Projektmanagement, Eppelheim Printed on FSC-certified paper Photographs Front cover: GIZ/Sandra Fuhr As at July 2012 GIZ is responsible for the content of this publication. On behalf of Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Division Federal government/states/local authorities; migration and employment; returning experts; export credit and investment guarantees Addresses of the BMZ offices BMZ Bonn BMZ Berlin Dahlmannstraße 4 Stresemannstraße 94 53113 Bonn/Germany 10963 Berlin/Germany Phone: +49 228 99 535-0 Phone: +49 30 18 535-0 Fax: +49 228 99 535-3500 Fax: +49 30 18 535-2501 poststelle@bmz.bund.de www.bmz.de