A Study visit to France

The stay in France began with a series of meetings with representatives of selected departments of Business France in Paris. Experts from the sister institution PAIH presented the most important assumptions of their activities in the area of export, investment and regional cooperation. A particularly valuable topic in terms of the exchange of knowledge, and referred to during each meeting, was the functioning of the Team France Business program in the regions, which allows for the support of exports among small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Polish delegation also took part in the Export Day in Caen - a local event which has as its main theme the support of export from the Normandy region. Managers of local Business France units presented the export potential of their regions and met with representatives of companies planning foreign expansion.

The mission’s participants also paid a visit to the headquarters of the Normandy Development Agency, where they met with the local Team France Export, which includes representatives of local Business France structures, the Chamber of Commerce and the French Development Agency. The activity of the Team France export in Caen is reflected in the significant number of supported company’s and the value of exports.

The visit to France allowed us to get to know in detail the French export support ecosystem, both at the central and regional level. It was also another step towards strengthening the partnership between our institutions, giving a good perspective for the implementation of further joint projects.

The "My Business Abroad" project is co-financed by the European Social Fund, and its aim is to prepare and test a support model using the experience of a transnational partner, which PAIH will use to provide services to SMEs considering foreign expansion. The developed model is designed to increase the efficiency of Polish SMEs in the process of international expansion.

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