2023-08-31 08:55:45
“Getting SMEs to export “: this is the philosophy of the plan announced, Thursday, August 31, by the government, which sees it as a necessary condition for “return to a surplus trade balance”while France recorded a record deficit of 164 billion euros in 2022.
In the first half of the year, the fall in energy prices made it possible to raise the bar a little, with a deficit of 56 billion euros. But there is still a long way to go before reaching equilibrium, not to mention reconnecting with the surpluses as displayed by Germany (98 billion euros in the first half). « [Pourtant], we manufacture some of the best products in the world », Laments Olivier Becht, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Attractiveness, for whom ” there is no fatality » to see one deficit following another.
The Minister is convinced of this: to improve French performance on international markets, we must encourage SMEs and medium-sized companies (ETI) to venture outside our borders. “Many SMEs are content with a local or national market”, he points out. In return for this, regarding 80% of our exports come from large groups, while only 6.2% of French SMEs and 5.7% of ETIs are present on foreign markets.
Thirteen measures for an estimated cost of 125 million euros
An imbalance that is reflected in the size of our fabric of exporters: France has around 150,000 exporting companies in total, much less than Germany, which can count on the strike force of 300,000 companies, and Italy ( 200,000). ” The objective is to reach, by 2030, 200,000 exporting companies in France.insists the minister.
The plan presented Thursday includes thirteen measures, with an estimated cost of 125 million euros, which aim to convince business leaders to go and invest in foreign markets. Among them, the creation of territorial export volunteering, a first cousin of international corporate volunteering (VIE), which will allow, for a subsidy of up to 50%, SMEs to recruit a young person to support the company in its procedures on foreign markets.
At the same time, the hiring of VIEs from urban policy priority neighborhoods will be encouraged to expand the battalions of some 10,000 volunteers currently active. This measure responds to an observation: for one in three companies, the ministry indicates, the fact of not going international is linked to a lack of human resources.
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