ICC and WTO announce first successful proposal under the “Small Business Champions” initiative

The proposal is for a video competition inviting micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to share their stories, through a short video, about how they have used Internet technologies to participate in trade. The competition will be called the “Small Businesses Going Global Video Challenge.”

ICC and the WTO will run the competition and select the winner and two runners-up, which will be announced at the WTO’s 11th Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires in December 2017. The winner and runners-up will win a trip to a masterclass at Google in digital skills tailored to MSMEs, the cost of which will be covered by Google.

The contest is intended to help show how MSMEs can leverage Internet technologies – such as cloud services, apps, payment solutions, communication and productivity tools, real-time analytics, translation tools, and video platforms – to become global exporters.

Director-General Roberto Azevedo said:

“This is a great initiative from Google to spread the word among micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises about the potential of trading online. The competition will encourage people to share their stories about how smaller firms can overcome the obstacles and seize the opportunities of doing business in other markets. Small businesses are already huge employers, but they often find it difficult to trade. The Internet helps to lowers the barriers they face, thereby helping small businesses to realize their potential.

“The ICC-WTO Small Business Champions initiative is about encouraging creative ideas from the private sector which can help small businesses to trade – spreading skills and awareness. This proposal from Google is a great start. We are currently reviewing many other ideas put forward under the Small Business Champions initiative and we look forward to announcing further successful proposals in the near future.”

ICC Secretary General John Danilovich said:

“We are delighted to welcome this first successful “Small Business Champions” proposal. Google’s initiative provides a great opportunity to show the personal story behind global trade – and to illuminate how the Internet is rapidly changing its composition and dynamics.

“We encourage other businesses to step up and follow Google’s lead in putting forward proposals to ICC and the WTO to become small business champions.”

Google’s Head of Global Trade Policy David Weller said:

“The Internet is a great equalizer in trade – helping small businesses from around the world trade to grow in ways impossible a generation ago. We are excited about this opportunity to showcase that potential with the WTO and ICC.”

Submission of videos

Small businesses interested in participating in the video competition are required to submit a short video (no longer than four minutes) shot using a mobile phone (or other device) that shows how they have used Internet technologies to participate in international trade and reach overseas costumers.

Videos should be uploaded to YouTube (or other video-sharing sites) with the tag #msmesgoingglobal and the link emailed to msmes.global.challenge@gmail.com, including your name, age, nationality and contact details.

The competition is open for submissions until 31 October 2017.

For further details please read the terms and conditions here.

Background:

ICC-WTO Small Business Champions was launched by the Director-General of the WTO, Roberto Azevedo, and ICC Secretary-General John Danilovich in August 2017. The initiative will provide a platform for companies and private sector organizations around the world to propose innovative, practical ideas designed to encourage micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to do business across borders. Those businesses putting forward successful proposals will be recognized as ‘ICC-WTO Small Business Champions’.

Read more about the initiative here