Proposal for the coordination of the

10th EU UN-Procurement Seminar

to be held on

6-8 May 2013

For the European Procurement Forum, Inc

Version 5 (12 September 2012)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Seminar Framework

2.1 Goals and Objectives

2.2 Participation in the 10th EU UN-Procurement Seminar

2.3 Planning

2.4 Location

2.5 Grant Application

3. Seminar Program

3.1 Program Outline

3.2 General Presentations on UN Business Opportunities

3.3 Thematic Workshops

3.4 Live registration workshop

3.5 Panel Discussions/Case Studies

3.6 1-on-1 meetings with the UN

3.7 Thematic third day: The EU-US special

3.8 Networking Opportunities

4. Participant Registration Process

5. Seminar Coordination

5.1 Organizing Partners

5.2 Coordination Role of NATC

5.3 Seminar Moderators

5.4 Seminar Promotion

6. Financial Overview

6.1 Seminar Expenses

6.2 NATC Coordination Fee

Appendix I: Budget Proposal for the 6 - 8 May EUPF Seminar 2013

1.Introduction

Since April 2003, New Amsterdam Trade & Consultancy (NATC) has organized the yearly EU UN-Procurement Seminar (or ‘Seminar’) on behalf of the European Procurement Forum, Inc. (EUPF). The seminar is attended by European-based companies and is a joint effort by the New York based Consulate-Generals and Permanent Missions of 27 countries within the European Union (EU) that established the not-for-profit organization EUPF for this purpose.

The main goals of the seminar are generally:

  1. Providing European companies with information and tools to access the UN Procurement market in an efficient and effective way;
  2. Allowing EU companies to present themselves to UN Procurement staff;
  3. Offering participating UN Organizations the opportunity to meet with potential new vendors in one-on-one meetings.
  4. Giving companies the opportunity for B2B networking with other participants in order to increase joint efforts.

Following a successful seminar in April 2012, NATC is pleased to offer the EUPF a new proposal for organizing the next seminar in the spring of 2013.

This proposal is based on the successful formula used in previous seminars that NATC has organized. The proposal first offers a framework for the next seminar. Next, NATC outlines a prospective seminar program. For the 9th edition a special section on the reconstruction and development of Haiti and the associated procurement opportunities was organized on the third day of the Seminar. In 2013, for the 10th Annual Seminar, the idea is to have a completely different ‘thematic component’. We propose to keep the first two days mainly focused on the main goals of the Seminar, and to use part of the second and the entire third day to host a combined event with US companies and NGOs, to promote EU exposure to the USA. To be able to organize this event in the most efficient way, the EUPF will apply for a grant made available by the Delegation of the European Union to the USA. The name of this grant is “Getting to know Europe”. The Proposal for the Seminar is based on the EUPF being awarded the grant. In case the EUPF is not awarded the grant, the suggested format of this proposal will be adhered to as much as possible within the limitations of the budget.

The second day of the Seminar, first day of the ‘thematic component’, will be used only for 1-on-1 meetings between EU companies and US NGOs and Government organizations. Not only will a ‘thematic component’ create extra content for the seminar and value for the participants, it will also attract more companies to the third day and therefore give the coordinators more timeslots to organize 1-on-1 meetings. The proposal concludes with an overview of the coordination activities and a financial cost estimate for the Seminar.

2.Seminar Framework

2.1 Goals and Objectives

With the organization of the seminar, the European Procurement Forum intends to:

Offer a cost-effective and time-efficient opportunity for EU companies and the United Nations Organizations to meet and exchange information for the purpose of business development.

In more detail, the ongoing objectives of the Seminar are:

  • Offering EU based companies an overview of the UN Procurement market, its processes, opportunities and challenges;
  • Giving EU based companies the opportunity to promote themselves to the UN organizations in New York and meet individually with relevant procurement staff members;
  • Offering participating UN organizations an efficient way to identify new vendors and learn about new products/services, or to reinforce contacts with existing EU based vendors;
  • Providing companies with the opportunity for B2B networking with other participants in order to increase joint efforts of EU based companies in approaching the UN-Procurement market.

Furthermore for the 2013 Seminar NATC proposes the following sub-goals with the grant from the Delegation of the European Union to the US;

  • Promoting the EU and EU based companies who are involved in aid and development projects with
  • a) American based businesses,
  • b) Governmental Organizations,
  • c) Non Governmental Organizations (NGO’s),

which would be involved in similar projects for either B2B partnerships or direct procurement opportunities.

  • Organize B2B meetings between EU based companies and the above organizations.
  • Initiate a foundation for a web based innovation platform that will allow innovative EU based companies the opportunity to present their product. Especially with the proposed grant, this platform can be promoted to US based governmental and non-governmental organizations that have procurement budgets in aid and development projects.

2.2 Participation in the 10th EU UN-Procurement Seminar

The seminar is mainly intended for EU based companies that wish to do -or to expand their- business with the UN, and whose products and services fit the procurement needs and demands of specific UN organizations. This year’s sub-goal is to create more exposure of the EU in the USA, which is why American companies will be allowed on the third day and US NGOs and governmental organizations on the second and third day. This day will be used to introduce European companies to American NGOs through workshops and presentations, and to set up 1-on-1 meetings between them in the same way it’s done with the UN. At the same time, the US companies will get a small introduction into UN Procurement, and later on the opportunity to get matchmaking meetings with EU companies. Furthermore, there will be plenty of networking opportunities throughout the day for all participants.

There are two main reasons why NATC proposes to provide those US based companies with an introduction into UN Procurement. First of all, the seminar needs to seem attractive to US companies so that they are willing to spend time and money in attending it. Only providing them with B2B opportunities with European companies might not be enough on itself. Secondly, NEXCO has shown interest in organizing a seminar similar to the EU UN-Procurement Seminar for US based companies, in the same week as the EUPF organizes its Seminar. If the EUPF offers participating US businesses a short introduction to UN Procurement, there will be no need for NEXCO to organize a seminar. The fact that in a short session during the Seminar the amount of information about UN Procurement that is shared with US companies is much lower than in a multi-day seminar hosted by NEXCO, gives participating EU based companies an advantage over their American competition.

If the grant is not awarded, EU participants will have the option to register for only the first two days. For companies that do not show up, the EUPF will reserve the right to deny them from participating in the Seminar in the future.

European Companies

Participation in the full 3-day seminar is open to EU based companies, focusing on (but not limited to) a selection of the following industries:

  • Engineering and Construction Services
  • Emergency related goods
  • Professional Development and Training
  • Logistics & Transportation
  • IT Services and Software
  • Water & Sanitation

The selection will be published on the website ( in order to fine tune and target the marketing efforts. The organizers (EUPF and NATC) give priority to companies with little or no experience in doing business with the UN. It will also be communicated on the website that the seminar program is organized especially for companies that are new in doing business with the UN. The UN organizations will be advised to prioritize companies that are new to the UN market for their 1-on-1 meeting selection. They will be advised to make their decisions based on the companies applicability to the particular UN organization and the available timeslots.

Equal distribution of companies from the EU-member states is preferred by the United Nations and EUPF. NATC suggests applying a temporary country cap of 15 companies per country, just like previous years. In reality this is a two-step registration process: the cap will only be in place up to two weeks before the company profiles go to the UN for the 1-on-1 meeting selection. When the country cap is released, and the maximum number of 150 companies has not been reached, companies get admitted on a first come first serve basis in combination with the level in which a country already has its quota filled. Once a country reaches 15 companies and one of those 15 companies cancels in a later stage, the coordinators will allow the next eligible company from the particular country to complete registration.

In 2012 a total 135 companies participated in the seminar, there was an official waiting list of almost 60 companies. The website registration was then closed. Depending on the participation of overseas UN organizations, the level of promotion conducted by EUPF members, and a seminar location with sufficient capacity, EUPF could target to have a maximum of 150 companies participating in the 2013 Seminar, of which the first 100 are eligible for 1-on-1 meetings. With a little bit more effort and marketing, it would be possible to reach maybe 250 companies, but this would limit the quality of the matchmaking process, as there are not enough timeslots available (from the UN side) to host more meetings. Another limitation is, as stated above, the space of the Bohemian National Hall.

Regional representatives

As per strong recommendation of the UN/PD, regional representatives of the 5th committee will be invited. This invitation will clarify that they are invited as ‘observers’ only, to avoid a repeat of politically motivated questions that came up in the past. In previous years an EUPF board member was assigned as focal point. We suggest this would be the case in 2013 as well.

American NGOs and US governmental organizations

For the second and third day of the event, American NGOs and US governmental organizations will be invited to participate, depending on the relevance of the organization, their availability and location in the US. These organizations will be considered guests that the EUPF will reimburse. Depending on where they are based in the US, we will reimburse up to two nights in a hotel and transportation costs. They will not receive a DSA.

American companies

American companies only have the opportunity to register for the third day of the event. They will register for a reduced fee, where the level will depend on the grant from the Delegation of the EU. Marketing for this part of the Seminar will be handled by partners NEXCO and ISOA. Further marketing will be done through publications in UN Development Business and US focused magazines like Millennium Development Goals Review, and the website of DEVEX. NATC will try to find more partners and publications that could attract more US based companies and give more exposure to this initiative.

Partners

To ensure participation of American companies, the EUPF will need to use American partners and their networks. Currently, only NEXCO and ISOA have been found as partners, but more might be interested. They will market the third day of the Seminar with American companies.

EU missions to the UN/EU Consulates and Embassies

The EUPF consists of members from the EU Missions to the UN and members from EU Consulates and Embassies. They are actively involved in marketing the EUPF Seminar with companies from their respective countries. This formula has been very successful so far, as more companies sign up for the event than we can actually host. The representatives also take care of many of the communications with the companies in regards to the organization of the Seminar.

Participation from UN organizations will be covered in chapter 3 of this proposal.

2.3 Planning

Just like last year, the 2013 seminar will have a ‘thematic special’ on the third day (8 May). NATC suggests focusing this thematic special on promoting the EU in the US and the opportunities that follow from that. This third day will also allow for additional 1-on-1 meetings between participating companies and UN procurement staff. NATC will emphasize the added opportunity for 1-on-1 meetings on the website, brochure and in the Terms & Conditions. The ‘thematic component’ officially comprises the second and the third day, but the second day is only for 1-on-1 meetings between EU companies and NGOs.

Generally, for companies the planning will be as following:

  1. Creation of an account for the EUPF website;
  2. Registration for the 2013 Seminar;
  3. Initial reviewing of the registration for eligibility;
  4. Payment of their registration;
  5. Review and selection for 1-on-1 meetings by the UN;
  6. Accessibility to B2B matchmaking system;
  7. Planning of UN 1-on-1 meetings;
  8. Planning of B2B 1-on-1 meetings.

Once company profiles are sent to the UN for evaluation, the European companies will no longer be able to make changes to their profiles, or to their selection of UN Organizations for 1-on-1 meetings. This will be communicated with them multiple times through email.

At this point in the process, a new option will become available, which will allow all the registered companies (EU and US based) to view an approved selection of each other’s profiles. EU based companies will have the option to opt out of this B2B feature, US based companies will not. EU based companies will have the option to select European and American companies as well as US based NGOs, while US businesses can only select European ones. The system behind this option works similar to the one the UN uses to review company profiles, other than that the companies will get the opportunity to select with which other companies they want to have a B2B meeting. They can themselves sort the profiles listed by country or industry type, and can make a selection of the companies they wish to have a meeting with. The selected companies will get an automatic email from which they can choose to accept or decline the request. The EUPF will have an overview of the matches that have been made and use this in a later stage to plan as many B2B meetings as the capacity of the BNH allows. This will be the core functionality of the upgrades to the website.

For NATC to plan and execute the above in a comprehensive way, the following table will list all the important dates:

Week
Monday / Planning
6 - 8 May / 10th EU UN-Procurement Seminar
8 April / Inform Companies about their complete meeting schedule
18 March / Option for companies to cancel
11 March / Plan B2B 1-on-1 meetings
4 March / Final feedback UN Organizations; Inform Companies about B2B 1-on-1 meetings invitations
26 February / Feedback UN Organizations on company profiles; start planning first day
12 February / Final deadline registration to be eligible for 1-on-1’s; go/no go decision
6 February / Companies can start selecting for B2B (and US NGO) matchmaking
5 February / Last day to update profiles; Send first batch of company profiles to UN Organizations
25 January / Country quota ends January 26
15 January / Registration opens
8 January / Close TTT registration
1 December / Website online - Registration TTT opens
1 November / Invite UN Organizations and US Govt and NGO’s
15 October / Finish brochure and distribute amongst partner organizations
14 October / Send Invitations Chiefs UNO’s
3 October / Agreement EUPF - NATC signed for the coordination of the 2013 Seminar

2.4 Location

In 2013 the status of the UN Capital Master Plan will again affect the availability of the UN headquarters in New York to host the seminar. The Bohemian National Hall (BNH) has enough capacity to facilitate the seminar (up to max. 299 participants in the ball room) and is available. The BNH is located on 321 E 73rd street, between 1st and 2nd avenue. The seminar coordinators will work with the BNH and the catering to make sure that the seminar is held in the most environmentally friendly way that is practically possible.

The BNH has the following spaces available:

-The ball room (4th fl.) with a theatre style capacity of 299, good for plenary sessions and the reception, less suitable for workshops due to size. The street side of this ball room can be separated and creates a 1500 sqf space that can be used for 1-on-1 meetings as well as a business lounge. Up to 11 meetings can be held at the same time.

-The sky lounge (5th fl.), only suitable for 1-on-1 meetings, maximum capacity of 8 meetings at the same time.

-The auditorium (3rd fl.) with a theatre style capacity of around 60, good for smaller plenary sessions, very suitable for workshops and breakfast & lunch.

-The library (3rd fl.), suitable for breakfast & lunch, the registration process, and 1-on-1 meetings (maximum capacity of 12 meetings at the same time).

-The cinema (1st fl.) The capacity in this room is 60 maximum, only theatre style. The cinema can be used to show movies, but is often used as a quiet space where guests can access free wireless Internet.

-Depending on the weather, the BNH is able to open the roof top, which gives participants a place to mingle and to enjoy the Manhattan skyline.

-The 1st floor restaurant, which will be used exclusively for 1-on-1 meetings. The maximum capacity is 80 people.

In 2012 the weather was bad and ‘waiting areas’ developed on the 3rd floor that severely disturbed the workshops in the Auditorium. This will have to be dealt with in the 2013 seminar. Screens will have to be rented to prevent participants from entering certain areas.