Peru and CONFIEP
Implementation of the Provee Pyme platform
What is South-South and Triangular Cooperation?
What is Provee Pyme?
In May 2022, Asociación de Gremios de la Pequeña empresa del Peru (association of small company organisations of Peru – Asociación Pyme Peru), Confederación Nacional de Instituciones Empresariales Privadas del Peru (confederation of private business institutions of Peru – CONFIEP) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) launched the Provee Pyme platform (See: https://proveepyme.pe/).
Provee Pyme is a commercial contacting tool aimed at making the products of small Peruvian companies available to the procurement needs of large companies.
Small companies who wish to form part of this initiative can apply on-line for an evaluation by the Provee Pyme technical team. The team checks that applicants meet the minimum requirements for participation (formally incorporated, catalogue of products and experience in corporate sales, among others). The short-term aim is a minimum degree of homologation between all SMEs taking part in the initiative so that participating large companies have some form of guarantee.
The large companies are then called to take part as purchasers of the SME’s products, which implies undertaking to use the platform, publishing their purchases on it and developing training courses, together with the Provee Pyme technical team, aimed at remedying deficiencies among the SMEs using the platform. For that reason, Provee Pyme is not just a tool for facilitating business contacts but also has an important training component.
The conception and creation of the platform was achieved through strategic alliances between ILO (within the framework of technical aid provided to Peru), CONFIEP and Asociacion Pyme Peru. The latter facilitated connections and encouraged SMEs to join the platform. In just a few month Provee Pyme has registered more than 97 SMEs providing a catalogue of around 40 items (products and services), and 25 large companies.
What is CONFIEP?
Why was the platform created?
They must be formally incorporated
They must offer existing products and services
They must have experience in the market
How does this commercial contacting platform work?
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
Requirements for a SME to considered for participation
Annual turnover of up to USD 2 million
(the limit for classification as a SME in Peru)
Incorporated formally for a minimum of two years.
Experience in corporate sales
They must provide information on their tax position, a tax report from the previous fiscal year and a catalogue of products and services.
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- Provide a letter of intent / commitment signed by the managing director
- Register with the platform, which is entirely free of charge
- Designate a contact person
- Use the platform to call suppliers to training sessions on their procurement processes
The achievements of Provee Pyme – Peru
The 6 key components in the success of Provee Pyme
Making Provee Pyme into the point of contact with SMEs. Large companies can thus use innovation to position themselves in new regions and markets.
Consultants dedicated specifically to the different aspects of the programme: advice for SMEs, communications and strategies for large companies. In addition to CONFIEP personnel who support the project.
Raising awareness of the project so that both large companies and SMEs can manage their expectations and understand that the programme is not completely open, as a minim level of requirements applies.
Training and instruction for SMEs on the procurement processes of large companies and to improve their access to digitalisation (e.g. use of the platform, virtual product catalogues, on-line payments, digital marketing). For this component CONFIEP has formed alliances with a university and the large companies themselves, offering seminars and access to courses. (This training can be offered through the platform). The aim is to create more alliances of this type.
Guaranteeing quality. CONFIEP has developed a rigorous process for guaranteeing that SMEs offer quality and confidence to the large companies, and that there is an equivalence between them.
Evidence-based decisions. For both CONFIEP and Asociación Pyme it is important to measure the platform's progress and impact. To do so they have introduced indicators of subscription and use and plan to measure the impact of the training sessions.
Provee Pyme implementation, step by step
Key actors and their roles
Asociación Pyme – CONFIEP
Responsible for the project, contributing man-hours and process management.
Consultants
Asociación Pyme Perú
Contacts, recruits and recommends SMEs to the project.
ACT/EMP – ILO
Participants/Companies
How was this digital platform financed?
It wasn't all easy
Platform design. SContacts were sought with local suppliers with experience and knowledge of developing similar platforms. It was soon obvious that local suppliers only had experience of developing B2B (business to business) platforms but not ones that involved a training component and this was the first obstacle identified. Nevertheless, the supplier adapted to the specified requirements and focused on designing a platform that would meet the requirements.
Digital literacy. Challenges were detected concerning people’s level of digital knowledge, which was age-related. According to Peru’s Statistics and Information Technology Institute, at the end of 220 fewer than 50% of the population between 41 and 50 years of age used the Internet. This figure reflects the barrier faced by businessmen in this age range regarding use of digital media, despite having sufficient experience to qualify as suppliers to large companies.